Sefer Vayikra Archives | Page 8 of 15 | Academy for Jewish Religion

7 04, 2016

Parashat Tazria-Shabbat Hahodesh

By Rabbi Len Levin|2016-04-07T16:29:47-04:00April 7, 2016|

Renewal
A Meditation for Shabbat Hahodesh – Tazri’a

by Rabbi Len Levin

“Let this New-Moon be for you the beginning of New-Moons, the beginning-one let it be for you of the New-Moons of the year.” (Exodus 12:2, transl. Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses, Schocken, 1995)

Hodesh = “new-moon” (from hadash, new): the renewal of the moon at the beginning of its monthly cycle. Related to hiddush, renewal.

We thank You, God, for Your many acts of renewal, from ancient times to the present:

Renewal, as the moon, after vanishing to nothing in the morning east, reappears as a silver crescent in the evening west, with promise of fullness in the days and weeks to come.

Renewal, as the earth, shedding its blanket of snow, peeks up green and violet shoots, harbingers of the blaze of glorious vegetation in the months ahead, and we begin a new calendar year.

Renewal, as each young mother produces Read More >

31 03, 2016

Parashat Shemini–Shabbat Parah

By ahsilver|2016-03-31T13:19:29-04:00March 31, 2016|

Shabbat Parah — Holy cow!!

This Shabbat is one of the four specially designated Shabbatot leading up to Passover. They are all exemplified by a special Torah reading that gets added to the reading for the particular Shabbat, and they all have special haftarot — readings from the prophetic books. This week is the strangest of all, Shabbat Parah, the Shabbat of the red heifer. Or, as one of my teachers called it, “Holy Cow Shabbat!” We will read the standard Torah reading for the week, in this case the reading in the book of Leviticus called Shemini, and then we will read from the book of Numbers, the section that outlines the ritual of choosing, slaughtering, and burning a pure red heifer, one that has never worn a yoke on its neck.

The convoluted ritual of the sacrifice of this cow is part of the process of purification leading up to Passover, to Read More >

25 03, 2016

Parashat Tzav

By ahsilver|2016-03-25T11:02:53-04:00March 25, 2016|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

This week’s parashah continues the extensive discussion of the different sacrifies that God commanded the Israelites, and it is therefore not surprising that sacrifices make an appearance in the haftarah chosen for Parashat Tzav. The haftarah contains a much discussed verse from Jeremiah that seems to imply that the Children of Israel were not originally commanded to offer sacrifices.

“For on the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Jeremiah 7:22)

A similar sentiment can be found in Amos:

“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?” (Amos 5:25)

Biblical commentators and scholars have been puzzled by the claim that the Children of Israel were not commanded to offer sacrifies while in Read More >

18 03, 2016

Parashat Vayikra

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2016-03-18T08:13:00-04:00March 18, 2016|

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

With many of us glued to the news at a time when we are trying to decide who should be our next leader, it may come as a surprise that this week’s Torah portion, which deals with animal and meal offerings, has what to teach us about leadership qualities.

In chapter 4 of Vayikra the Torah speaks of four individuals or groups who if they sin unintentionally are to bring a hatat (sin) offering. Each of the offerings is described in detail and is somewhat different from the others. The four categories, in accordance with rabbinic tradition, are as follows: the high priest (vv. 3-12), the Sanhedrin (high court) (vv. 13-21), the ruler or king (vv. 22-26), and the individual Israelite (vv. 27-35). Interestingly, three of the categories are introduced by the word im, which means “if” — i.e., if the individual or group will sin, then such and such Read More >

7 05, 2015

Parashat Emor

By ahsilver|2015-05-07T22:14:50-04:00May 7, 2015|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

Love and rebuke are actions that many people understand to be in tension with each other. If you love someone then you don’t rebuke them, and if you rebuke someone, then it must be because you don’t love them. In reality, it is wrong to see love and rebuke as being polar opposites. Sometimes it is because of our love that we rebuke someone, and rebuke can also be understood to be a way of expressing love. The way in which we rebuke someone is what makes all the difference. Do the tone and content of our rebuke reflect concern and empathy, or do they give the impression of a patronizing and judgmental attitude?

In his book Parperaot la-Torah, Rabbi Natan Tzvi Friedman brought the following source from the commentary Kol Rinah that addressed the need to rebuke out of love.

“The LORD said Read More >

30 04, 2015

Parashat Aharei Mot-Kedoshim

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2015-04-30T16:38:18-04:00April 30, 2015|

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

In parashat Kedoshim we come across what some of our rabbinic sages (Hazal) tell us is the most important principle of the Torah — ve’ohavta le’reiakha ko-mokha — “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). In particular, it is Rabbi Akiva of the second century C.E. who selects this phrase in a debate with Ben Azzai over what should be considered the most fundamental teaching of the Torah. (see Gen. Rabbah 24:7)

We also find Hillel in an earlier century expressing the same idea. In a famous Talmudic story a potential convert comes to this sage seeking to learn the entire Torah while standing on one leg. Unlike Shammai, who rejected him outright, Hillel tells him “that which is hateful to you don’t do unto others; that is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary; go learn it.” (Shabbat 31a) No doubt Hillel had in mind Read More >

23 04, 2015

Parashat Tazria-Metzora

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-04-23T08:07:10-04:00April 23, 2015|

by Cantor Sandy Horowitz

These are the Torah portions we love to hate. This week’s text discusses, in great detail, numerous health conditions including skin disease and bodily emissions. Those in charge of preparing students to become bar/bat mitzvah often wish they could avoid it — well, like the plague.

Our modern discomfort with Tazria-Metzora is a natural reaction, surely. The kohanite priests however, were enjoined to move towards the afflicted rather than avoid them, as they were charged with the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery relating to their various skin conditions.

Jethro Gibbs, the main character of the TV show NCIS, has a series of rules that govern his approach to his work and his team. In that spirit, here are a few “rules” that may reflect the priests’ approach as described in this week’s text.

Rule # 760* / tzara’ath (leprosy): “Pay attention to detail.”

In Leviticus 13:3 we read that if someone has Read More >

15 04, 2015

Parashat Shemini

By ahsilver|2015-04-15T21:19:18-04:00April 15, 2015|

Hazzan Marcia Lane

I’m a ‘mostly vegetarian.’ I started years ago because of stories on NPR about feed lots. Cattle raised in feed lots stay in one place, standing in their own excrement. They are fed corn – which is not what cattle normally eat. I mean, think about it. How could a cow shuck an ear of corn? Corn is really food for people and crows. Feed lot cattle are raised in such terrible conditions that they develop multiple health problems, for which they are given antibiotics and growth hormones. So I gave up beef. That was not really a problem, because I had chicken, and I loved chicken. So versatile! Less expensive! And much easier to eat without a fork and knife.

Then I heard about the conditions under which chickens are raised. The thought of stuffing hundreds and hundreds of birds into a small space and Read More >

26 03, 2015

Parashat Tzav-Shabbat Hagadol

By ahsilver|2015-03-26T23:11:30-04:00March 26, 2015|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

The practice of offering korbanot, sacrifices, was central to Israelite and Jewish worship for centuries. While during the Biblical period it may have been natural to offer an animal sacrifice, since then Jewish thinkers have been trying to interpret the meaning of the sacrificial system. The important 13th century Spanish Biblical commentator, Rabbi Moses Nachmanides, the Ramban, wrote an extended discussion about the meaning of the sacrificial system in his commentary on Leviticus. (See Ramban on Leviticus 9:1)

In his commentary the Ramban brings the historical approach to the sacrificial system that was offered by Rabbi Moses Maimonides, the Rambam. According to the Rambam, in order to understand the korbanot we must historically contextualize them in their ancient setting. The Ramban disagreeed with the Rambam’s approach and offered another understanding of the sacrificial system, one that interpreted the sacrifices in all their details as a mirror Read More >

18 03, 2015

Parashat Vayikra

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2015-03-18T16:22:10-04:00March 18, 2015|

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

In chapter 4 of this week’s Torah reading, we have four categories of people who sinned unknowingly and who have to bring some kind of sin offering (korban hatat) as a result. The Torah describes in some detail the specific animals and manner of offering for these four, who are, in chronological order, (1) the high priest, (2) the entire congregation (interpreted by the Rabbis as referring to the high court or Sanhedrin), (3) the nasi or king, and (4) the individual.

In each case, save for the third category, the Torah introduces the possibility that one may sin by the word im or ve’im, which means “if.” For the nasi, however, the paragraph is introduced by asher, which can also mean “if.” Indeed the Targum Onkelos translates it with the same word (im) that he uses for the other categories. However the Midrash (Vayikra Rabba, Read More >

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

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