The Torah portion for this week, Terumah literally means a portion. It begins the divine instruction for the building and operation of the Mishkan as well as the appeal for the donations to do so. The unique tabernacle in which…
Tag: Bible
The Price of Hesed
Every year the gift-giving season comes earlier and earlier, to the point that some desperate merchandisers try to lure us into their stores with X-mas in August promotional ads. This year in reaction to the societal retreat due to Covid…
Emor – Kiddush Hashem
Listen to an audio version It is no wonder that Americans grow ever more cynical regarding organized religion. I think few people are totally surprised by the recently exposed sexual abuses that have been going on within Catholic parishes, since…
Tetsaveh – Do Not Forget!
The Torah portion for this week, Tetsaveh, literally “means you shall command.” It contains the remainder of the divine instruction for the building and operation of the Mishkan, the unique tabernacle in which Hashem promises to dwell with Israel during…
Accepting Our Heritage
It has been said that the life of Moses can be seen as three distinct movements, forty years each. First Moses spends the first forty years thinking he is somebody. He has fallen by providence into the royal court of…
Purim, the Church and Jewish Marginality
This is a “leap year” for Israel’s lunar calendar. The Jewish “leap year”, which occurs seven times in a 19-year cycle, has 13 months instead of the regular year’s 12. This is so that the lunar-based Jewish year should remain…