Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Vayikra (Leviticus 1-5) And G-d called to Moses (Leviticus 1:1) If you drive by a construction site, you can’t help but notice that it looks more like an advertising billboard than a work in progress. A banner promoting Company A , who is doing the actual construction of the building, is outside. Next to it is a […]

(Being as we are less than two weeks away from Passover, each week we will have a short dvar Torah on Passover and another on the weekly Torah reading. Keeping Up with the Stein’s Passover is the holiday of freedom and Matzah is known as the bread of poverty, lechem oni.  If it has eggs or fruit juice or […]

When all the parts of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) had been made, they were brought to Moses, who actually stood the walls up and erected the Mishkan. Rashi quoting the Midrash explains that due to the massive weight of the materials, none of the people were able to erect it, so they brought the materials to Moses-but he was also unable to […]

[Being as the Corona Virus is currently in our thoughts most of the day, I have to chosen to write about it in a practical way. Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha comes afterward.] Six Jewish Takeaways from COVID-19We are all at wits end trying to manage in these challenging times. The Talmud (Yevomot 63a) tells us that […]

This week we read about the tragic incident of the Golden Calf. When Moses descended with the tablets, he encountered Joshua, who had heard the voice of the people rejoicing (over the Golden Calf). He commented to Moses, “Battle sounds are heard in the camp.” And (Moses) said, “It is not the sound of strength (a […]

One of the puzzling incidents in the Purim story is Esther’s asking King Achashverosh to invite Haman, the arch enemy of the Jews, to a banquet. Ostensibly, she asked for a party so that she could plead with the king to have the decree against the Jews rescinded, but why would she invite the anti-Semite […]