by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2022 | God, Hebrew Language, Pekudei, Temple
After the Tabernacle is fully assembled, God descends upon it in a cloud of glory: The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of Hashem filled the Mishkan. Exodus 40:34 The Hebrew word for ‘glory,’ kavod (כָּבוֹד), is perhaps more precisely translated as...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 9, 2022 | God, Ki Tisa, Temple
Even though no man ever came as close to God as Moses, when it came time to construct the Tabernacle, God assigned the task to Bezalel (meaning “in the shadow [i.e. the protection] of God”) the son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. Caleb...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 6, 2021 | Chanukah, Israel, Temple, Vayechi
The Hanukkah story is clearly one of conflict, pitting the underdog Judeans against the powerful Seleucids and King Antiochus IV. The Judeans were also up against their Hellenized brethren who actively sought to end the Temple service and the observance of the Torah’s...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 2, 2021 | Chanukah, Kings, Temple
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that is not mentioned in the Bible. Its name means ‘dedication,’ and it commemorates the eight-day rededication of the Second Temple by the Hasmoneans that took place at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 1, 2021 | Kings, Ninth of Av, Temple
The Arch of Titus, constructed in 81 CE by Emperor Domitian to commemorate the victory over the Jewish rebellion in Judaea, stands on the Via Sacra in Rome to this day, bearing witness to the fact that the Romans carried away the golden Menorah from the Second Temple...
