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Thank you for allowing me to bring you a message on Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat before Pesach. I am not a biblical scholar like our rabbi was, however, before anyone can be a teacher, he has to be a student and I am a student of life and I love the principles that our […]
7 Nisan 5781 Are We Polluted? By Ranebi (Rabbi Netanel ben Yochanan) The events of Vayikra (Leviticus) take place over a period of one month and begins in the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt. It is always important when studying the Torah to ask three things…to whom was it directed, when […]
Are we transparent before God and man? With this double Parashah Vayakhel-Pikudei, we complete the book of Exodus, HaSefer Shemot. It speaks of how Moshe gathered (vayakhel) the people of Israel to hand them ordinances about the sanctuary and once again emphasizes the importance of keeping the Shabbat. Even the very work of building the […]
22 Adar 5781 You Matter to God This portion Ki Tissa covers a variety of topics such as: The half-shekel for the sanctuary, the bronze wash basin, the anointing oil and the incense, Bezalel and Oholiab, the Shabbat, the two tablets of the covenant, the golden calf, the mandate to leave Sinai, the (Ohel Moed), […]
Our Actions Speak Louder than Words! Adar 15, 5781 Parashat Tetzaveh begins with lighting the menorah with pure oil. Although this has spiritual application for our lives, it was also very practical. The Ochel Moed, the Tent of Meeting had no windows, making it totally dark. The menorah served to bring light so that the […]
8 Adar 5781 Giving from the heart is a trust issue This week’s parashah is called Terumah – Contribution. It begins with God telling Moses: “Speak to the people of Israel, that they bring me an offering; from every man that gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering.’ Everything the people brought to […]
1 Adar 5781 “We will Do and We will Listen.” Here in Parashat Mishpatim, Moses is telling the children of Israel about many of the moral and ritual “regulations”- mishpatim. He is also sealing the covenant between them and their God. God had just given them the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, as we saw […]
Do we Grasp God? 24 Shevat 5781 When I was reading Parashat Yitro, one of the most central portions of Judaism, I saw several main themes emerge: The first is the person of Yitro; second, Yitro’s observation of the daily life of Moshe and Israel; third: the banquet of Yitro and Moshe; fourth: Yitro’s advice […]
3 Shevat 5781 There is only one Unique God As I read through this week’s portion “Vaera” – וָאֵרָא- (And I appeared) in Shemot 6: 2-9: 35, the pshat (direct meaning) that stood out to me was the complex political, social, religious and economic background of that time. When we finished Bereshit, we saw that Pharaoh […]
25 Tevet 5781 Exodus 1:1- 6:1 This week, we begin the second of the five books of the Torah, Shemot also called by our sages “HaSefer Hageulah” (the Book of Redemption). Everything that happens in this book takes place within a community, where the main player is the people, unlike the book of Bereshit which […]
