by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 6, 2022 | Holiness, Ki Teitzei, Marriage and Relationships, Modesty
It was love at first sight; lightning that hit my heart and bowled me over. But like two star-crossed lovers, fate seemed determined to keep us apart. Normally, I would take my new love interests to meet my parents. But that was not possible. So I took her to meet my...
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...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 14, 2022 | Miracles, Temple, Tzav
The altar in the Tabernacle was, of course, for burning the sacrifices, but the Torah commanded that the fire be kept burning constantly, night and day, regardless of whether or not there was a sacrifice to burn. The Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma 4:6) explains that special...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 3, 2022 | Covenant, Repentance, Seventeenth of Tammuz, Temple, Terumah
As part of building the Tabernacle, God instructed Moses to place the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments into the Ark of the Covenant. But, as we know, there were two sets of tablets; the first, inscribed by the finger of God, was cast down and shattered when Moses...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2022 | God, Holiness, Prayer, Temple, Terumah
In the Tabernacle, and later, in the Temples in Jerusalem, a curtain, called a parochet, separated the “Holy” from the “Holy of Holies.” The only person who passed through this curtain was the Kohen Gadol (high priest) on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In order to...
