We have the culmination of the Mishkan (Taberncle) creation and beginning of use, doubled with the beginning Aaron and his sons being set aside as high priests occurring this week in the portion Shemini. Aaron loses two of his sons to the Most High’s fire and HaShem gives us the kosher dietary laws, kashrut. This parsha has quite the storyline to follow and see how it fits together. When we last left Moshe he was setting up the Mishkan daily. This day, the eighth day it was left standing. The eighth day is a new beginning differing from the past seven days, though unlike creation the count did not begin at one again. The week centers around Shabbat, and the rest of the days’ names are numbers in Hebrew. The eighth day marked a changing of the guard. Moshe was formally inaugurating the Mishkan. Unless their camp moved [...]
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Parochet (Hebrew: פרוכת) (also paroches, parokhet) is the curtain on the front of the Aron Kodesh (Torah Ark) in a synagogue that covers the Sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls). In most cases, behind the parochet is also a door. This curtain represents the covering that was on the original Ark of the Covenant. The term paroch ...
The rabbis used to believe in a Messiah who would suffer and die, according to the prophets of Israel. The Talmud, for example, refers to a Messiah, Son of Joseph, who will be slain (Sukkah 52a). In presenting this concept of a Messiah who will be slain, the Talmudic rabbis refer to Zecharya 12:10. וְשָׁפ&# ...
$18 dollars (per tree). Do so in honour of a loved one, a friend, for a birthday, wedding, or just for yourself. A card will be sent to you or the person designated acknowledging that a tree has been planted in Israel in their honour. Tu B’Shevat Is Almost Here, So Get Ready To Plant Some Trees! Tu Bishvat (Hebrew: טו ב ...
One of the basic building blocks and foundations of Jewish life revolves around the subject of “Taharat HaMishpachah” or family purity. "And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. And every thing that she lieth upo ...
The Hebrew word, “kosher” means “clean” or “fit” for consumption by God’s holy people. The Hebrew word “kashrut” has to do with kosher practice and the process of keeping kosher. The context of the primary passage on kashrut, Vayikra (Leviticus) 11, has to do with being a holy people ...
When one studies rabbinic ideas of the Mashiach one comes upon a very curious idea: Mashiach is a Leper! Where does this idea come from? We’ll tell you below, but first consider some of the rabbinic references. Babylonian Talmud: "The Mashiach –what is his name?… The Rabbis say, The Leper Scholar, as it is said, `surely he ha ...
Weekly Sidra: VaYera / And he appeared Torah Portion: Bereshit / Genesis 18:1-22:24 Haftorah: Melachim Bet / Kings II 4:1-4:23 My intention is to bring people together without the imposition of the dogmas of any religion. Religious people debate back and forth but I am not interested in debating; my desire is to bring us back t ...
When our Rabbi, Maran Yeshua HaMashiach was crucified the earth shook and the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom. Surely this had significance, along with the strange miracles surrounding the temple after his death. During 200 years before 30 CE, when the high priest picked up one of the lots, again the selection was governed by chance. ...
The good deeds of the ancestors contribute to the welfare of their descendants. The expression, "You remember the good deeds of the patriarchs," is repeated three times daily in the opening benediction of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer. The zechut avot concept, in Jewish theology, is expressive of the idea that individuals profit in the their ...
We are now preparing ourselves for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when we beg God to write our names in the Book of Life (Sefer ha Chaim). Many people leave the Synagogue after the Yom Kippur service without being certain that their names are inscribed in the Book of Life. Those who have understood that Messiah has already come and t ...
No one in the annals of our Prophets and Kings could emulate the noble status of Moses, upon whom it is written,[Devarim 34:10] "And there arose not a Prophet since then in Israel like Moses." The Talmud elucidates on this:[Rosh Hashanah 21b] King Solomon desired to attain the status of Moses. A Heavenly voice came forth and cited this ve ...
One of the signs of our times is increasing crime everywhere. In America this has been a problem for quite some time, but today it is also happening in Israel where common forms of crime include drug trafficking, money laundering, burglary, extortion, murder for hire, fraud, car theft, human trafficking, corruption, and black marketeering. – ...
(Pirkei Avot 3 Mishnah 17) “Rabbi Akiva said: Mockery and levity accustom a man to immorality. The transmitted Oral Torah is a protective fence around the Torah; tithes are a protective fence around wealth; vows are a protective fence around abstinence; and a protective fence for wisdom is silence.” All fences, whether physical or spiri ...
And Miriam died there… And there was no water for the congregation (20:1-2) The history of Miriam’s Well is not written explicitly in the Torah text but only allusively. The allusions are brought out in the Aramaic Targum (Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Bible). Miriam is associated with (according to Midrashic lore) the rolling well t ...
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