For decades, Western society has been making concerted efforts to be more accepting and inclusive of those who have physical and mental disabilities. This means that accommodations must be made for impediments that have historically restricted people from living fully…
Tag: sacrifice
Passover Lambs and Chesed Community
Among messianic Jews much has been said concerning the parallels between the sacrifices of the paschal lamb and that of Yeshua. After all the paschal lamb was the Korban Pesach, the essential sacrifice which God commanded the children of Israel…
Tzav – Ear, Thumbs and Toes
The book of Vayikra is often referred to as the Torat Kohanim, The Teachings of the Priests. It contains the exact prescriptions for the kohanim to minister in the Mishkan and later in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Its topics…
He Ain’t Levi, He’s My Brother
Parasha Vayikra marks the beginning of the accounting of the Levitical responsibilities within the Mishkan. Much of what follows concerns the sacrificial system of Israel. On a transactional level, these rituals may seem like ancient practices with little relevance to…
Chukat – Three Children of Amram, Two Strange Cows, and A Perpetual Living Stream
Listen to an audio version Parashat Chukat is among the most enigmatic in all of Torah. While it gives closure to the lives of Moses siblings, it opens three new mysteries in the fabric of Israel’s, story, a peculiar ordinance,…
Acharei Mot – Real Food for Real Men
Listen to an audio version Several months ago I was in a local bookstore and was surprised to discover that while the Judaism and the Spirituality sections seemed to be shrinking, the largest book section by far was the…
The Lamb of God; Dayenu
Listen to an audio version At the each Passover Seder just prior to the second cup of wine we sing Dayenu (lit. It would have been enough) a song that recognizes each of God’s beneficent gifts to Israel. After the…
Shabbat HaChodesh – It’s About Time
Time is the most elusive yet dominant concept in the human experience. We struggle to understand it and we struggle to control it, yet our endless awareness and fear of time lurks behind all our endeavors. So, we invent devices…
Shabbat Parah – Get Ready For Change
I have always thought that cheshbon hanefesh, literally a reckoning with one’s own soul was a practice most appropriate at the beginning of Elul, the month that preceded Rosh Hashanah. To this end Rabbi Israel Salanter, founder of the…
Vayikra – A Tough Place for Man or Beast
Listen to an audio version At first glance Torah can be a tough read for those concerned about animal welfare. Much of the first ten chapters of Leviticus contain cultic material, especially in Parashat Vayikra that, that concerns itself…