Rosh Chodesh Elul / ראש חדש אלול "The King is in the Field – HaMelech Ba’Sade" – This month, God is as approachable as hardly any other time of the year! The month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah) and Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that the month of Elul is a particularly propitious time for repentance. This mood of repentance builds through the month of Elul to the period of Selichot, to Rosh Hashanah, and finally to Yom Kippur. The name of the month (spelled Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed) is said to be an acronym of "Ani l’dodi v’dodi li," "I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine," a quote from Song of Songs 6:3, where the Beloved is God and the "I" is the Jewish people. In Aramaic (the vernacular of the Jewish people at the time [...]
Read full story »
Weekly Sidra: Reeh (See) Torah Portion: Devarim / Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 Maftir: Bamidbar / Numbers 28:9-15 Haftorah: Yeshayahu / Isaiah 66:1-66:24 (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh) “For as the new heaven and the new earth Which I will make Shall endure by My will— declares HaShem — So shall your seed and your name endure. An ...
The command to observe the Shabbat is almost always prefaced by the statement, “you shall do your work for six days etc.” Why the need for this prologue related to the regular week? Why doesn’t the Torah just tell us about the actual day of Shabbat? One possible reason is that the Torah is making clear that it is an obligation to ...
“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.” (Deuteronomy 6:8) This statute has been traditionally interpreted as the law of tefillin (phylacteries). Tefillin consist of small, hollow, black leather boxes that contain several parchments of relevant Scripture verses: Exodus 13:1–10; 1 ...
Weekly Sidra: Phinehas (Pinchas) Torah Portion: Bamidbar/ Numbers 25:10-30:1 Haftorah: Yermiyahu / Jeremiah: 1:1-2:3 They shall come, and shall each set up a throne Before the gates of Jerusalem, Against its walls roundabout, And against all the towns of Judah. (Jeremiah 1:14) This week we read a special Haftarah portion which is par ...
El Talmud, Zevajim 19, dice que Pinjás no era kohén antes de ejecutar a Zimrí. Sólo Aharón y su familia y su futura descendencia habían sido designados como sacerdotes (kohanim). Pero como Pinjás ya había nacido cuando Aharón y sus hijos fueron instalados como sacerdotes, él no t ...
Wearing of a head covering (yarmulka, skullcaps, kippah [pl. kippot]) for men was only instituted in Talmudic times (approximately the second century CE). The first mention of it is in Tractate Shabbat, which discusses respect and fear of God. Some sources likened it to the High Priest who wore a hat (Mitznefet) to remind him something was always b ...
This week brings in a new month Rosh Chodesh Tammuz Each month has a place in the Jewish calendar and significance spiritually. Tammuz is the fourth month. It is of Babylonian origin as are all of the Jewish months’ names. In this case Tammuz was an idol. This foreshadows problems of idol worship and destruction ...
Bamidbar 18:23 The Levi[im] himself shall perform the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity, an eternal decree for your generations; and among the Benei Yisrael they shall have no inheritance. The Leviim are commanded that they alone are to perform certain services in the Temple, such as the closing of the gates, and th ...
We are entering the Hebrew month of Sivan – ראש חדש סיון. Since the last month had 29 days it is celebrated only one day this month which has 30 days. Sivan is the third month of the year as Torah describes it. The first day of Sivan the people encamped at Mt. Sinai preparing to rece ...
Yom Yerushalayim – Dia de Jerusalén; Estamos comenzando el estudio de un nuevo Sefer (libro), llamado en castellano Números, pero en hebreo se le llama Bamidbar, que significa “En el desierto”. Este libro recuenta los viajes de Israel, las alegrías, y las tristezas. Este libro se conoce en literatura Rab&iacut ...
Shabbat (sabbath) is the only ritual observance instituted in the Ten Commandments. Primarily a day of rest and spiritual enrichment, the word ‘Shabbat’ comes from the root Shin-Bet-Tav, meaning ‘to cease, to end, or to rest’. The injunction to “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” is the fourth of the Ten ...
Weekly Sidra: Shemini (Eight) Torah Portion: Vayikra / Leviticus 9:1-11:47 Haftorah: Sh’muel Bet / II Samuel 6:1-6:19 This week’s Parasha is called Shemini, which could be translated the Eighth. The number eight represents a level that is higher than nature, and above time. This is the level of the miraculous, which ...
Chol HaMoed Pesach or Chol Ha-Moed Pesach (also transliterated from Hebrew as: Hol HaMoed Pesach or Hol Ha-Moed Pesach) refers to the intermediate or middle days of the Passover or Pesach festival as well as another Jewish festival, the autumn harvest festival of Sukkot. Literally-speaking, Chol HaMoed means "The Non-Holy Appointed Time" ...
Weekly Sidra: Tzav ( Command) Torah Portion: Vayikra / Leviticus 6:1-8:36 Haftorah: Malachi 3:4-3:24 Behold, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of Adonai. He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with ...
This Website is Powered by HaShem
Jewish Categories
