Author Archives: Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

This year, 8th day of Pesach was on Shabbat. On that day, Israel went back to the regular weekly Torah reading, while outside of Israel, we remained with the holiday one more day, and since – one Torah portion behind. … Continue reading →

Translate Yom Hazikaron to English and you get “Memorial Day”: end of spring to summer weather; BBQ’s with beer and wine; a long awaited weekend chill getaway; flowery summer dresses on sale. Maybe it’s no wonder then that it’s almost … Continue reading →

Yom HaSho’a in NYC: subways and traffic jams; people rushing, jogging, zigzagging to their errands, their work, their home; pretty stores flash their goods; passersby and store-keepers half nod a hi, welcome, have a nice day, and as if on … Continue reading →

The Hebrew word “aviv”, spring, sounds almost the same as “be’ahava”, with love, and is identical in its gymatria. Just a coincidence? We might never know. It’s up to us to choose what we want to see. That too, is … Continue reading →

It would seem to make sense to read, during these Shabbatot, from the 4-5 first Torah portions in the Book of Exodus, but instead, we’re reading from some of the most intimate and obscure Torah portions: in the heart of … Continue reading →

רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, הַמְהַלֵּךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וְשׁוֹנֶה, וּמַפְסִיק מִמִּשְׁנָתוֹ וְאוֹמֵר, מַה נָּאֶה אִילָן זֶה וּמַה נָּאֶה נִיר זֶה, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ מִתְחַיֵּב בְּנַפְשׁוֹ: Rabbi Shimon says: He who is walking on the way and repeating his studies, and interrupts his … Continue reading →

Not enough we spent two whole Torah portions talking about every details of how we will build the Tabernacle, now we start all over again to talk about how we are building it. Why the repetition?? What’s the big deal? … Continue reading →

There’s so much in this week’s reading of Ki Tisa – a census, continuing to build the mishkan, shabbat and more, but the sparkly golden calf hides it all and calls our attention. We know the story: Moses didn’t come back … Continue reading →

The Torah portion of Tetzave opens with the instruction to take olive oil for the menorah’s light. Why olive oil? What is so special about the olive tree and its product? While it’s possible that this was the most commonly … Continue reading →