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 27, 2022 | Jerusalem Day, Temple
Jerusalem Day commemorates the reunion of the Jewish people with their holiest site, the Temple Mount, during the 1967 Six-Day War. It is celebrated annually on the 28th of Iyar and is marked officially throughout Israel with state ceremonies and memorial services....
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 22, 2022 | Bechukotai, Community, Covenant, Faith, God, Temple
Agriculture in Israel is a joint venture in which God partners with the farmers. God promises that if the Jews are faithful to the Torah and keep the commandments, He will ensure that the rain will fall in its proper season and the land will yield its bounty. And just...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 12, 2022 | Emor, Temple
After designating the descendants of Aaron as the kohanim (priests) in perpetuity, the Torah then delineates specific physical blemishes that disqualified, either temporarily or permanently, individual kohanim. Just as animals brought to the altar had to be free of...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 11, 2022 | Emor, Marriage and Relationships, Purity, Temple
Until the Exodus from Egypt, the patriarchs had an individual relationship with God, bringing sacrifices wherever and whenever they felt the calling. But when God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, what had been a clan, a loose conglomeration of individuals,...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 8, 2022 | Emor, God, Leadership, Miracles, Temple
By the time we read the Torah portion of Emor (Leviticus 21-24), the Tabernacle has been built along with all of its necessary utensils. The Kohanim (priests) stand at the ready in the Biblically mandated clothes. But some necessary elements are still missing. God,...
