Tag Archives: Torah

“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”… Cain and Abel and the Book of Genesis

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

(English below) אחים: – קין והבל, וספר בראשית רק סיימנו את ספר דברים, נפרדנו ממשה רבנו וחזרנו לבראשית, אך… הרי לא באמת “סיימנו”. ביום שמחת תורה, קראנו את הפרשה האחרונה ומיד… חזרנו? או שמא… המשכנו לספר בראשית? במובן מסוים, אפשר … Continue reading →

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Between the Sukkah & the Mamad – thoughts for Shmini Atzeret / Simchat Torah 5785 – 2024

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

October 7th 2024 showed up right between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as if emphasizing this dialog we’re having with the world around us, on all its levels, through the two calendars, and in Israel it was not to be … Continue reading →

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Where’s Jerusalem in the Torah? – or – “Inquire & go there…” (the Torah portion of Re’e)

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

פרשת “ראה”: ירושלים מן התורה מנין? או “תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ וּבָ֥אתָ שָֽׁמָּה” How many times is Jerusalem mentioned in this name – Yerushalayim – in the Torah? We would think countless times. After all, we’re talking about the Holy City in the … Continue reading →

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Because she acted out of love, the Holy One gave her from love… Sh’lach lecha (plus)…

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

“על שעשתה מאהבה נתן לה המקום מאהבה”… פרשת שלח לך (והפטרתה) In our tradition there are heroes and heroines who live in our consciousness by their name and their title together: Moshe – rabenu – our teacher. Abraham – avinu … Continue reading →

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Stand for a minute, I need to count you! The Torah portion of Bamidbar

Posted on June 7, 2024 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

תעמדו רגע! אני צריך לספור אתכם! פרשת במדבר When you go on a field trip with 40 teenagers, what is the thing you do most often? Yes, you tell them to come, go, don’t forget, listen, sit, stand, move forward, … Continue reading →

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Be Holy! the Torah portion of Kedoshim

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

פרשת “קדושים תהיו”! In the month of Iyar – my father died, and in the month of Iyar – my granddaughter was born. A terrible tragedy, and an immense joy cohabit side by side. How to contain both? The answer, … Continue reading →

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One Father & Two Sons – The Torah portion of Vayera

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

בספרו “ראשית, פעמים ראשונות בתנכ”, הסופר מאיר שלו, מספר על ביקור שערך בכפר דייגים בים אנדאמן, בין הודו ותאילנד: “בניגוד לכפרי דייגים רגילים, הכפר הזה לא שכן על החוף אלא צף בים. בתיו נבנו על דוברות שעגנו יחד ונקשרו זו … Continue reading →

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Who are we & where did we come from? The Torah portion of Noah

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

The most obvious and famous stories in the 2nd Torah portion in the Book of Genesis, “Noah”, are the story of the flood and Noah’s ark along with the rainbow and the dove with the olive leaf, followed by the … Continue reading →

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Counting as a Sign of Love: Emor, Behar & the 39 melcahot

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

Counting is an act of love. Initially this statement might not sound so good. It stands in contradiction with what we have been taught and therefore think of love: Love should be free, flowing, feely, not measured… Brrr… I think … Continue reading →

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To Be Seen – the Torah Portion of Va’era

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Michal Kohane מיכל כהנא

There are three sets of 10’s in our tradition: Ten Utterances with which the world was created, the Ten Plagues, and the upcoming Ten Commandments, and with each one we have to wonder: why couldn’t G-d create the world with … Continue reading →

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