We, in our current milieu and society, find it difficult to intimately relate to the facts, descriptions and rituals outlined for us in the subject matter of the parshiyot of this week. The laws and rituals of negaaim are addressed to those of past generations that were on a far different spiritual level than ours. Even the Talmud Bavli did not assign any specific volumes in its vast compendium... READ MORE →
After the seven days of excitement and joy upon the consecration of the Mishkan and the installation of Aharon and his sons as the priests of Israel devoted to the service of God and humans, tragedy strikes the family of Aharon and all of Israel. The commentators to Torah as well as the Talmud itself searched for the causes that created this sad situation. They attempted to answer the... READ MORE →
The new Pope of Rome, a 76-year-old Argentinian cardinal, ascends his throne with a murky past. Rumors have always swerved about him and his behavior during the terrible period of “The Dirty War” that engulfed Argentina, when the country was controlled by the military juntas. The cardinal was accused of complicity and of notable silence during that sad period of time that consumed tens... READ MORE →
The parsha of Tzav more often than not coincides with the Shabat preceding Pesach – Shabat Hagadol, the “great Shabat.” At first glance there does not seem to be any inherent connection between the parsha of Tzav and Shabat Hagadol and Pesach. However, since Judaism little recognizes randomness or happenstance regarding Jewish life, and certainly regarding Torah itself, a further analysis... READ MORE →
Over the past weeks the plague of locusts in a relatively minor form infested our area of the world. The locusts apparently did do great though not catastrophic damage to crops in Egypt before crossing the Sinai peninsula and turning north to invade Israel. The Israel Agricultural Ministry sprayed extensively from the air to destroy the streams of aggressive locusts and achieved success in... READ MORE →
This week’s parsha marks another new beginning in our public reading and personal understanding of the Torah. Whereas the first two books of the Torah are mainly narrative in nature and content, the book of Vayikra is mainly a book of laws and commandments and of the nature of purity and impurity, sacrificial offerings and priestly obligations. Vayikra not only offers us a change of... READ MORE →
The problem with common sense is that it is none too common. In fact, one could characterize it as a rare commodity or even as an endangered species. Does not common sense tell us that Shas, United Torah Judaism and Bayit Hayehudi, all of whom proclaim their loyalty to Torah, should form one bloc in order to influence the country and its government? Yet we are witness to terribly vicious and... READ MORE →
The book of Shemot that began with such high drama just a few months ago ends this week on a rather bland and apparently purely technical note. The Torah once more reviews and recounts for us the details of the construction of the Mishkan and an exact accounting of the material goods that were used in its construction. Through the ages, the commentators have dwelt long and hard on these... READ MORE →
There are numerous instances in the Talmud when the rabbis state that if a certain behavior is permissible to some Jews then why is it not permissible to all? The Talmud and the Torah itself recognizes exceptional circumstances, unusual pressures, and differing opinions that need be taken into account, but the Talmud never advocates differing standards of halachic behavior. It does recognize... READ MORE →
Moshe is absent from the people of Israel for forty days. This seems to trigger a disastrous turn of events that results in the incident of the Golden Calf. Why is Moshe’s absence such a cataclysmic event in the evolving story of the constant and continuing backtracking of Israel from its Sinai commitment? After all, every rabbi is entitled to a vacation away from his flock. The... READ MORE →
