Following along the weekly Torah reading, we periodically encounter a passage that is audacious. We wonder how Moshe could say such a thing or make such a bold prediction. This week’s Torah portion, Bechukotai, contains two such passages. Verses like these teach us fundamental principles of Judaism.
Many Jews think that the Torah contains not only knowledge of how to live but knowledge in all areas of science as well. This mistake occurs out of a naïve admiration for the Torah. People want to think that since the Torah is “from heaven,” God revealed all knowledge in its pages. This week’s Torah portion, Behar, informs us of a couple of mitzvot that apply specifically to farmers in the Land of Israel. Are they the conception of an agricultural Einstein?
What is time, why do we care about time, and why is important to sanctify it? This week’s parsha, Parashat Emor, sheds some light these questions.
Wednesday marked a very sad and solemn, difficult day in our homeland. Yom Hazikaron is the “Day of Remembrance,” Israel’s equivalent to our Memorial Day in the United States. It is the day we remember, through words and prayer, our fallen IDF soldiers, those brave and heroic men and women, parents and grandparents, sons and daughters, brothers and sister, and the countless innocent victims of terror attacks in Israeli cities and villages.
This week, Jewish communities and non-Jewish communities throughout the world marked May 2, Yom Ha’Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, with meaningful commemorations and ceremonies. Maimonides lists “remember what Amalek did” and “do not forget what Amalek did” as two separate but closely related Torah mandated mitzvot. Neither command has any designated time or place. They can be accomplished every day, at any time.
The sages of the Talmud refer to matzah as לחם עוני, “lechem oni.” What does this expression mean? The Talmud suggests a few possibilities.
Recent Comments