Christina Mattison Ebert This week we begin a new book of the Torah, Leviticus; or, in Hebrew, Vayikra . This new beginning coincides...

From the Holman Bible Last week, we read about the great saga of the golden calf. In the wake of their grave error, the Israelites...

High Priest, Jan Luyken, 1669–1712 (colorized). Rijksmuseum.nl In this week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh , God bestows upon Aaron and his...

The Presence of the Lord Appeared as a Fire on the Top of the Mountain (illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence...

Crossing the Sea: Rina Bat Tzion In this week’s Torah portion, Beshelach , the Israelites take the final step towards freedom: crossing...

In the first two portions of Exodus, Shemot and Vaera , we are introduced to our main character, Moses, who will lead the Hebrew slaves...

Shabbat Shalom. I wanted to first share the context in which I am speaking tonight. My rabbinical thesis work - that will be submitted...

This past Monday evening, the 9th of Av, Jews all over the world gathered as we remembered the destruction of the two great Temples in...

I love the book of Deuteronomy. When I read the fifth and final book of the Torah, I imagine Moses as the old professor. I even have the...

In Parashat Matot-Masei we are told that Moses himself takes the time to record the journeys of the Israelites from their days in slavery...

In my writings this year I have mostly commented on events happening in Israel and the Jewish world. That is the spirit of this project...

“Mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov, mishkenotecha Yisrael - how beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling places, oh Israel!” (Numbers 24:5)...

This week’s portion opens with, and derives its name from, these words: “zot chukat haTorah asher tzivah Adonai lemor - this is the...

n Korach, the portion’s namesake leads an uprising against Moses’ leadership of the Israelites. He is unsuccessful and he, along with the...

This week's portion, Shelach, contains one of the best known stories in the Torah, the saga of the 12 spies. God commands Moses to send...

Parashat Beha’alotecha is full of action. The levites are ordained and prepared for their role as attendants in the mishkan; the...

Parashat Nasso is a personally very significant portion for me, as it is what I read 21 (goodness that is a large number) years ago at my...

The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar (in the wilderness) in Hebrew, opens with God commanding Moses to take a census, assessing the numbers of...

Im b’chukotai telechu. The last portion of the book of Leviticus opens with these words: If you follow my laws and faithfully observe my...

While much of the Levitical law focuses on the work of the priests or on the moral code that we must keep between one another, Parashat...