This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is an interesting parsha because what we read depends on where we are. If you are in Israel, then you will be reading parsha Shmini. If you are outside of Israel, then you will be reading a special Pesach (Passover) parsha. Is this because we Jews like to make things difficult? Not really. It goes back to our roots. Without going into all the details, it has to do with how a Jewish month begins … Continue reading
Why is Pesach (Passover) 7 days? We have the first night seder meal, and then the next day (the first day of Pesach), we leave Egypt. Done. Why drag it out? The only thing I can think is that there must be something that happens on the 7th day that is at least as important. Let’s see… according to the Torah, we leave Egypt and travel 3 days and then turn around and back-track for 3 days until we come … Continue reading
The parsha (weekly Torah portion) is called Tzav which is the verb, “To command,” and one of the roots of the word mitzvah (or commandment). The parsha starts with god telling Moshe (Moses) to command Aharon and his sons on the laws of the olah offering – the olah offering on the flame of the altar all night until morning. The priests, who are Aharon and his sons, are then told how to deal with the ashes from the altar, … Continue reading
Hello folks and welcome to the latest installment of ideas I have had or heard regarding the weekly torah portion… This week’s parsha (portion) jumps 38 years as we go into the last year of being in the wilderness. However, before we get there, we read about how the ashes of a red cow can make a not pure person pure while making a pure person not pure. Right after the details on how this process works, we read about … Continue reading
Being a Cohen or priest in the family tradition of the sons of Yisrael, or what is commonly referred to as Judaism, blessings are a favorite topic of mine. Back when I lived in Jerusalem, orthodox Jews, when they found out I was a Cohen, would ask my to bless them. Also, every day, during the morning prayers, the Cohanim would bless the congregation. And at the Kotel (the western wall), during the week of Pesach (Passover) and Succot, hundreds … Continue reading
Hello and welcome to the Thursday Shmooze. We haven’t had one for the last few weeks because of Passover, but now that the holydays have passed, it is time to shmooze! This week a friend brought me an interesting question. It starts with the end of Passover; specifically the splitting of the sea. Now according to the midrash, there was a man named Nachshom who was the first to walk into the sea. The water got up to his nose … Continue reading
Last week I did not write anything on the parsha (weekly Torah portion) because the parsha was a special one for Pesach (Passover). Perhaps I should have written about Pesach instead, for that is what the parsha was about. I was very busy cleaning my house of chometz (leavening), and myself of ego. This is one of the traditions I learned while I was in Israel: chometz is created by yeast eating the sugar in the grains and producing CO2, … Continue reading