We say that all Jewish souls were at Sinai together. Do you recall “being there?” What does it mean to us that we were part of the Sinai experience? The Midrash explains that each and every soul who received the… Read More »
The mitzvah of having a routine lighting of the menorah in the sacred Mishkah (Tabernacle) is mentioned after the holy days cycle is presented in chapter 23 of Leviticus. Why the juxtaposition? The mitzvah of having a routine lighting of… Read More »
“In Judaism we sanctify the physical. We use our bodies to serve God. The reason is simple: God created us, and our physical world.” This teaching from Rabbi Sacks parallels another more common saying that we can’t attribute to any… Read More »
Does the purity-impurity, tahara/tuma, construct have any relevance in our world today? In fact, some feel that they are looking to purify their bodies from radical and poisonous elements. The idea that we should move toward a diet of natural… Read More »
Dayenu! Do we ever feel there is enough springtime? Enough redemption? The winters of life and soul suffering seem to come pounding on the shores of our lives like waves that knock us over and pull us into the undertow.… Read More »
Sacrifice of your time, of your resources and of yourself….As we read about the ancient rites our ancestors engaged to make their animal offerings, we discover their motivations are not far from our own when we visit holy precincts to… Read More »
The two commandments at the beginning of the parsha are: Shabbat Build the portable tabernacle Both Shabbat in the home and the synagogue as meeting place and our address for prayer – have sustained the Jewish People for millennia. Synagogue… Read More »
This week’s parsha explains that the Children of Israel were to undertake a building project to build a Mishkan, the portable tabernacle. It was to be set in the middle of the Israelite camp. All were to be generous in… Read More »
Outlining objective morality was achieved at Sinai. Jewish tradition established a system for anchoring ourselves in eternal truths while we launch debates and ask questions about how to achieve a world and lives of holiness. Some say Moses received the… Read More »
PARASHAT BESHALLAH – SHABBAT SHIRAH “Sing to the Lord!” says the Psalms. Both Hermann Cohen and Franz Rozensweig explained that we sing traditional prayers during Jewish rituals to create the grandeur of a vision of harmonized humanity centered around values… Read More »