by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 12, 2022 | Beha'alotcha, Israel, Leadership, Light Unto the Nations, Temple
I often find myself walking around my house, turning off lights in empty rooms. Why waste electricity if there is no one there to benefit from it? Interestingly, a similar question arose thousands of years ago, in the Temple itself! In the eighth chapter of Numbers,...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 9, 2022 | Hebrew Language, Israel, Judges, Messiah, Naso, Redemption, Revelation and Prophecy
It is not common for someone to take a Nazirite vow in modern times. The most notable exception was Rabbi David Cohen who, like Samson, became a Nazirite for life. And both of these Nazirites have a role in redemption. Every week, the reading of the Torah portion in...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 8, 2022 | Bamidbar, Community, Humility, Leadership
People are more polarized today than ever before with politics dividing families and shattering communities. The Bible established a system of leadership through service that may be the key to healing our broken polarized politics. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who served as...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 6, 2022 | Naso
The Book of Numbers (Chapter 5:11-31) describes the ritual of bitter water, given to a woman who acts in a way that causes her to be suspected of adultery. A woman is forced to drink the waters if she was warned by her husband regarding her relations with another...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 3, 2022 | Amos, Holiness, Naso, Purity, Temple
The Book of Numbers describes the vow of the Nazir (Nazirite). The Nazir is not allowed to drink wine, cut his hair, or come into close contact with the dead. The meaning of the Hebrew word nazir is a bit ambiguous. It literally means ‘to separate’. Rashi explains...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 31, 2022 | Bamidbar, Community, God, Israel
As its name implies, the Book of Numbers opens with a census, counting the men of Israel for the purposes of war, and then describes how they camped in the desert. Very much like an army camp, the tribes were arranged in four groups of three tribes each. At the center...
