Welcome to the wilderness. This is the name of the 4th book in the Torah that we started to read this week. It is also the name of this weeks parsha (Torah portion). In Hebrew, we would pronounce it b’meedbar. The other name for this book is Numbers because this is the book where we count the number of people who heard the, “Word of god.” Enough of the theatrics, let’s delve into the book and the parsha. We start … Continue reading
The name of this week’s parsha (Torah portion) is Trumah. I received a request (hi mom 🙂 ) to include the name of the weekly parsha, so there it is. The parshas are named from the first significant word in them. The word Trumah has as its root the word Rom, which means to raise up and is the word used to designate certain tithes that only the priests (the cohanim in Hebrew) and their families can eat. Or, in … Continue reading
Hi everybody. I hope this finds you all in good health and good spirits. The portion of the torah that we read this week is a continuation of Yaakov’s (Jacob) journey to becoming Israel. It includes the reconciliation of him and his brother Esau, and the destruction of the city of Schem, the death of Yaakov’s parents and his wife Rachel, and ends with Esau moving to make room for Yaakov, which is followed by a strange, repetitive listing of … Continue reading