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By Eliana Falk In Parashat Ki Tissa, Moses ascends Har Sinai and comes face to face with God, so to speak. With each step, he ascends in body, mind and soul and he dwells in God's presence. On Sinai, Moses knew the completeness, the unity, the wholeness the love of God - and the awe Read More >

By Julius Rabinowitz This week's Torah portion, Vayakhel, begins with a familiar litany that I will paraphrase: six days you may work, but on the seventh day you are forbidden to do work. We've heard this many times already, and we'll hear it many times again: it accompanied God's giving of the manna; it resounded Read More >

Parashat Vayikra By Susan Elkodsi Parashat Vayikra begins, "And the Lord called to Moses from the Tent of meeting," and told him to speak to the people about presenting offerings to God. Given its explicit and detailed instructions for these sacrifices, the book of Vayikra can be considered a handbook for how to be a Read More >

By Jill Minkoff This year, Parashat Tzav coincides with Shabbat HaGadol, the Sabbath preceding Pesah. The Torah verses describe offerings and rituals that help the Jewish people maintain a close relationship with God. For Shabbat HaGadol, we read Malakhi 3:4-24 in place of the Haftarah associated with Parashat Tzav. Malakhi's verses also speak to this Read More >

Shabbat Hol HaMo'ed Pesah By Margaret Klein We've cleaned, cooked, celebrated. We've had seders that lasted until midnight. Now it is time to celebrate again. Shabbat in the middle of Passover. A double celebration. We don't want to sound like the Israelites wandering around in the desert but we're tired, so tired. Why did we Read More >

By Steve Altarescu I once attended a meditation workshop at a Jewish retreat led by Rabbi Miles Krassen. He introduced a long meditation through which one could experience God's presence as being within us and surrounding us and ultimately the realization that there is nothing other than God. Through our communal Hebrew chanting, interspersed with Read More >

By Paul Hoffman To quote the anonymous sage, "whoever succeeds in saying something relevant about Tazria-Metzora brings redemption to the world." The entire concept of tum'ah and toharah, of 'impurity' and 'purity' is strange and difficult to understand. Chapters 13 and 14 of Leviticus deal with an ailment known in ancient times as tzara'at which Read More >

By Rabbi Michael G. Kohn One who reads or studies the Torah, and even one who listens carefully to the public Torah reading, is aware that many phrases or clauses appear with regularity. Therefore, it draws one's attention when a phrase or clause does not read exactly as one had anticipated. The second of our Read More >

A Dialogue on "HaMekallel"/ The One Who Curses God Leviticus 24:15 - "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying : Take the one the blasphemer outside the camp; and let all who were within hearing lay their hands upon his head, and let the whole community stone him." (NJPS). LIAT: I find it difficult to Read More >

By Neal Spevack In the beginning of this week's double parsha, Behar-Behukotai, the Jubilee year, Shenat HaYovel, is described. The Hebrew word yovel (from which "Jubilee" derives) means "ram's horn," since a ram's horn was sounded near the year's inception (Leviticus 25:9). Scripture states: "You shall count off seven weeks of years seven times seven Read More >