The 26th chapter of Leviticus sets out with stunning clarity the terms of Jewish life under the covenant. On the one hand, there is an idyllic picture of the blessing of Divine favor. If Israel follows G-d’s decrees and keeps His commands, there will be rain, the earth will yield its fruit, there will be […]
Messages from 2016 (Page 2)
Rick is going to purchase a new pair of glasses from an online discount store but is not sure which pair to buy. He goes to an optician, tries on many pairs of glasses and after a half hour with the salesperson, finds the pair that suits him. He then goes home and buys the […]
For a seven day period you shall live in Sukkot (“booths”). Every resident among the Jews shall live in Sukkot. (Leviticus 23:42) The Torah instructs us to live in a Sukkah for seven days. We eat, sleep, and relax there as we would in our own homes. It isn’t difficult for most people to build […]
An urban legend claims that someone with a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery. I don’t know the source of this incorrect myth but Jewish mothers for decades have successfully used it to prevent their teenage sons/daughter’s from getting tattoos. Even though it won’t disqualify a corpse from burial in the Jewish cemetery, […]
What thought comes to mind when you think of holiness? For most, it conjures up people living a life of seclusion and abstinence where one is in a state of serenity and is free to ponder life’s conundrums. The Jewish view of holiness is incompatible with this notion. This week’s Torah portion begins with the […]
The main idea of Passover is not merely abstaining from bread, cake, crackers, and other leavened products, it is to identify with the theme of the holiday. Freedom is what we focus on during Passover. We were freed from the Egyptians, as we say in the Haggadah, Had not the Holy One taken our ancestors […]
If we could sum up the entire holiday of Passover in one word it would be “freedom.” We became free on a national level and ultimately that allowed us to be free as individuals. Herein lays the challenge: there may no longer be shackles on the people but if they don’t change their mentality and […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha:Metzora (Leviticus 14-15) Critical Conversations Part II: The Most Important Question to Ask Yourself Before Speaking This week’s Parsha continues discussing the harmful effects of lashon hara, senseless negative speech. Many people don’t take speech seriously; they freely speak about others without regard for their feelings or the potential damage it can […]
The main topic addressed in this week’s Parsha is a condition called tzarat. Although it is generally translated as “leprosy,” other than the fact that it is a painful skin ailment, its exact nature is unknown to us and has not existed for thousands of years. It was not an airborne virus and it is […]
Refrigeration and Kosher Food: Rite or Right This week’s Parsha talks about kosher food and discusses the signs and details that render an animal, bird, or fish kosher. Being as so many people think that these laws stem from a lack of refrigeration and other considerations due to the limitations of the ancient world, we […]
An Effective Tool for Getting Love You Want Many people are familiar with an attitude about a task we aren’t looking forward to: “It is not very glamorous, but somebody has to do it.” And so the Torah begins this week’s portion by telling us the mitzvah of , removing the ashes that accumulate from […]
Shabbat Parshat Zachor-5776/2016 A time for love, a time for hate A time for war and a time for peace About ten years ago a tragic news story became a major item in England due to its theological ramification. Reverend Julie Nicholson, Vicar at a church in Bristol, England, resigned because of questions she had […]
Flipping the Switch And they brought the Mishkan to Moses…(ibid. 39:33) When all of the various parts of the Mishkan (portable “Temple” in the desert) had been fashioned, they were brought to Moses, who actually stood the walls up and erected them. The commentary of Rashi explains that because of the massive weight of the […]
The first Jewish fundraising initiative is found in this week’s Torah portion. Moses said to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel saying: This is the word that G-d commanded saying: Take from yourselves a portion for G-d…everyone who is generous of heart shall bring it… (Exodus 35:4-5) When they started bringing contributions to […]
The sin of the Golden Calf is one of the great enigmas of the Torah. The age old question—how could the same people who witnessed the Ten Plagues, the Splitting of the Sea, and national revelation at Sinai recklessly ignore G-d and pray to an idol—has many answers and there is one theme common to […]
You shall place both stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, remembrance stones for the Children of Israel. (Exodus 28:12) Moses was commanded to make garments for the Cohen Gadol-‘high priest’. Included in these was a piece of clothing similar to an apron called the ephod. It had two shoulder straps and held precious […]
The Torah reading this week gives the instructions for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a portable sanctuary (i.e .spiritual center) in the midst of the desert; it was the place where the Divine Presence would rest wherever the Jews happened to be. They took it with them throughout their 40 year stay in the desert and […]