Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tazria must win the ‘most misunderstood Torah portion’ prize. The word itself is untranslatable, and it follows by laws of “purity” and “impurity”, two more concepts we don’t understand. Then it goes into sacrifices that the child-bearing mother must bring, … Continue reading →

Shmini or “8th” (“eighth”) is the only Torah portion named with a number (not to be confused with “Numbers”, the forth book of the Torah and its opening portion). In this week’s parasha we read about the inauguration of the … Continue reading →

“I have nothing to wear” probably was not one of the things the priests of the Tabernacle used to say in the morning. As we learned earlier in the Book of Exodus, they had carefully designed, beautiful clothing that was … Continue reading →

Leaning against the stone railing of my balcony, I saw him disappear into the crowded streets beneath me, his head still slightly stooped, but his step lighter as if planted with renewed hope. I held my hand up to shadow … Continue reading →

The House of the Rising Sun You might recall this famous folk song sung by its most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the English rock group The Animals. The song was a number one hit in the United … Continue reading →

There is no good way to say it: most of the Book of Leviticus should be skipped. Yes, it includes “love your neighbor as yourself, but much of it makes for hard, unpleasant reading which is mostly irrelevant anyway. All … Continue reading →

My teary friend told me that while helping her husband find a document on his laptop, she came across more than 850 porn clips. Yes, she knew he “is a man” and might have watched “one or two here and … Continue reading →

Disconnecting to Connect: Vayakhel 1 Finally, the biggest miracle is in this week’s Torah portion! Not the Exodus and not the Splitting of the Sea; not the Manna raining from the Heavens and not even the Giving of the Torah. … Continue reading →

The sounds of a party reached Moses’ ears, descending from Mt Sinai. Approaching, he caught a glimpse of a Golden Calf glistening in the sun but after 40 days up there, learning Torah with G-d Himself and harmonizing with the … Continue reading →

“And you shall command the Children of Israel…” this is how this week’s reading begins, rather than in the usual “and G-d spoke to Moses saying”… This is the only portion throughout the Torah since Moses’s birth where his name … Continue reading →