This is a double parsha, made up of parshas Behar and Bechukotai. The seven aliyot of this week’s reading are indicated by special aliyah markings within those two parshas in the Chumash. Parshiyot Behar and Bechukotai are power-packed doubleheaders, this one emphasizing the connection between the Jew and Eretz Yisrael. The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 weeks, the exact number varying between 50 in common years and 54 or 55 in leap years. In leap years, parshah Bechukotai is read separately. In common years, parshah Bechukotai is combined with the previous parshah, Behar, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings. Behar: The thirty-second reading from the Torah and second-to-last reading from the book of Leviticus is called Behar (בהר), which means “On the Mountain.” The name comes from the first words of the first verse of the reading, which could be literally translated to [...]
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Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before HaShem alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. 2 And fire came forth from HaShem and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of HaShem. [Vayikra 10:1-3] This weeks Torah reading deals in part with the death o ...
"Jesus was a good Christian boy who went to church every sunday" We might as well begin with a Before/After kind of test in which you, the reader, are its main protagonist. How many mistakes can you spot on the top of this article? Most believers will spot three; only those "in the know" will catch the fourth one. Try it yoursel ...
Ta’anit Esther / תענית אסתר Torah Portion: Exodus 32:11 – 34:10 Listen to the Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) according the Marroqui traditional tune. On the 13th of Adar, the Fast of Esther is observed in memory of the Fast observed by Mordechai and Esther and all Israel. On that ...
The name of the holiday refers to the plot of the king’s advisor, Haman, to draw lots for which Jews to kill first. He planned to massacre all the Jews. Esther, one of the king’s wives and a Jewess herself, saved the Jewish people from Haman’s "lots" plot by revealing it to the king. Historical Background The story of Pu ...
Q: Why is the Torah called The Law? Does it teach legalism? A: The Torah is called “The Law” simply due to a translation from one language to another. The Tanach (Jewish Hebrew Bible) was written in Hebrew (the holy tongue). The translation goes from the Ivrit (Hebrew) word “Torah” (“teaching”) to the closest wor ...
The Bible is filled with imagery of the olive tree. From the olive branch in the mouth of the dove in Noah’s time to the Emissary Shaul; the use of the olive tree as a symbol of Israel and the engrafted non-Jews everywhere you look and you will encounter the olive tree; its branches, leaves, sprigs, oil, fruit, roots and pits; all usefulness ...
Weekly Sidra: Vayigash (and he drew near) Torah Portion: Bereshit / Genesis 44:18-47:27 Haftorah: Yechezkel / Ezekiel 37:15-28 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come forward to me.” And when they came forward, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because ...
I have been fully aware, from my residence both in the UK and the USA, that the ordinary person in the street has very little knowledge or understanding – if any – of the history, culture and religion of either the Arabs or the Muslims. I am also sure that this ignorance is wide-spread all over the non-Muslim world. It is also a fact th ...
"If the essence of proper hitbodedut is seeking what HaShem wants from us, then improper hitbodedut is the opposite, when one fails to seek HaShem’s Will during his hitbodedut. Rather, he prays to HaShem to fulfill his own physical and spiritual desires, and this is contrary to HaShem’s Will. He actually asks HaShem to help them do ...
As we begin to study Torah from Bereshit בְּרֵאשִׁית once again, it is important to remember that it is God who reveals to man and not vice versa. There are more religions in the world today than we can count, one for every taste and each one is vying for position trying ...
Yom Kippur,יום כיפור means "Day of expiation". It occurs on the tenth day of the month of Tishrei and puts an end to the "Ten Days of Awe" which are the days of repentance that start on the first day of the month of Tishrei, for Rosh Hashana. Each one is called on this special day ...
…In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a sabbath for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation. -Leviticus 23:24 (Note: when any Bible holiday falls any day, that day becomes Shabbat / Sabbath, even if it is Tuesday). Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashana ...
The creation of the modern state of Israel has awakened many dormant cultural pursuits, perhaps none so dramatic as the discovery of long-lost Jews. Every decade or so, another tribe of supposed descendants of biblical Israel—marked by quirky uses of Jewish symbols, eclectic religious observance, and a smattering of Hebrew prayers — is ...
Weekly Sidra: Ki Tavo (When you come) Torah Portion: Devarim / Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8 Haftorah: Yeshayahu / Isaiah 60:1-60:22 The month of Elul is a time for reflection. As the last month of the year we look back on our lives. We seek to repent of any actions we have done and continue to draw near to HaShem by reading His ...
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