by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 21, 2023 | Acharei Mot, Yom Kippur
Hank Greenberg was the first Jewish superstar in American baseball and in American sports in general. Now, as you might imagine, when he first came up to the Big Leagues to play for the Detroit Tigers in the early 1930s, antisemitism was a fact of life. But in 1934,...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 9, 2023 | Acharei Mot
The portion of Acharei Mot picks up following the deaths of Aaron’s older sons, Nadab and Abihu. It contains the instructions for the Yom Kippur — or Day of Atonement — service in the Tabernacle, and forbids slaughtering animal offerings outside the...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 28, 2022 | Acharei Mot, Amos, Holiness, Israel, Temple
The Torah portion of Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16-18) begins with a reference to the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, who died bringing a “foreign fire” while performing the service in the Tabernacle. Directly after this personal tragedy, God...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 28, 2022 | Acharei Mot, Temple
The Torah goes to great lengths to mandate that all Jews must only bring sacrifices to the same place; the Tabernacle (wherever it stands), and, later, the Temple in Jerusalem. Speak to Aharon and his sons and to all B’nei Yisrael and say to them: This is what...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 26, 2022 | Acharei Mot, Antisemitism, Purity
In Leviticus, God prohibits Israel from eating blood in the strictest terms. This prohibition also includes hunting and eating from the carcass of a dead animal (Leviticus 17:10-16), and the punishment for one who violates this is karet. In fact, the prohibition...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 25, 2022 | Acharei Mot, Holiness, Humility, Purity, Repentance, Shabbat, Temple, Yom Kippur
The Torah portion of Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16-18) describes the Temple service on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Bible mandates 15 specific sacrifices and many other rituals for Yom Kippur, or Yom HaKippurim, outlined in Leviticus chapter 16. The literal...
