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The biblical categories tahor and tamei, usually translated “pure” and “impure,” mean something like insider/outsider. One who is tahor can enter the sanctuary, the dwelling-place of God’s presence and the heart of Israelite ritual. One who is tamei cannot. Tum’ah, impurity, can be contracted by a variety of circumstances including contact with dead bodies, menstruation, Read More >

By Sandy Horowitz Towards the end of my high school senior year, I woke up one morning with an intense neck spasm, barely able move my head without severe pain. It subsided after awhile, thanks to painkillers and an embarrassingly unattractive neck collar. Viewing this incident as a physical mirror of my mental state at Read More >

This week’s Torah portion begins with these words, “See, this day I present before you a blessing and a curse. Blessing, that you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin upon you this day and curse if you do not obey the commandments….” (Deut.11:26-28) Why does it begin with the word Read More >

This week we are privileged to read a parashah that covers a multitude of disparate subjects, including the laws of royalty and magicians, but is introduced by the subject relating to the parashah’s title: Shoftim – Judges. In the first verse, we are enjoined to appoint justices; and then in the next two verses we, Read More >

By Rabbi Leonard Levin A famous midrash tells how Moses argued with the angels that the Torah, though a creature of heaven, was destined for use on earth.  œDo you have urges to murder, to commit adultery, to steal? We earthly creatures, who are imperfect, need laws to tame our urges and work for self-improvement. Read More >

By Steve Altarescu If Deuteronomic theology has not troubled you so far, Ki Tavo will now challenge you as it pushes the concept of reward and punishment to the limit. For the purpose of review here are some highlights of this theology from earlier in the Book of Deuteronomy.  œGive heed to the laws ¦that you Read More >

Nitzavim-VaYelekh, our double portion for this week, includes the 7th Haftarah in a series of Haftarot of Comfort and Consolation, read on the 7 Shabbatot following Tisha B Av. It is read on the Shabbat just preceding Rosh Hashanah as we are entering the period of intense personal introspection and accounting that is the essence of Read More >

By Michael Kasper How do we make sense of God as elegant, majestic, and breathtaking in one moment and vindictive, jealous, and consumed in the next?  Is there a force more cunning than God shows himself to be in this week’s parashah? There are only two places in all of Torah where Moses recites or Read More >

By Rabbi Katy Allen Look in the mirror. You are unique, but your two sides are not so different from each other. Compare the patterns of the two sides of your face. Do you see the connection? Like every other human and myriads of other organisms you exhibit bilateral symmetry – your left and right Read More >

By Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein Ashamnu, Bagadnu, gazalnu, dabarnu dophi  ¦.. We beat our chests as we repeat this list of sins in our liturgy over and over again during Yom Kippur. It is an alef-bet listing of sins, said in the plural form, of things we might have done wrong. The rabbis felt that Read More >