Articles in Parsha Insights
Emor: The Joys of Restriction
Soft Tones
In this week’s Parsha we are told of the many restrictions that were placed upon the Kohanim. (Priestly family) They may not attend funerals unless the deceased was a direct relation. Their choice of spouse is also restricted. But in instructing Moshe Rabeinu to convey the news of these …
Emor: Beyond the Highest Point
On the Morrow of Shabbat
In this week’s Parsha we learn of the Mitzvah to count the Omer. The Torah tells us that the count begins on the morrow of Shabbat and continues for seven weeks. Tradition teaches that the word Shabbat here is to be understood as the holiday of …
K’doshim: Gossip can be Deadly
Innocent Chatter
On a bus in Tel Aviv, an elderly woman could not help but overhear as two young ladies gossiped about a friend, who was engaged to be married. Giggling, they predicted that if her fiancé would only discover her faults, he would surely call off their engagement. The woman …
Acharei Mot K’doshim: Journey of Sanctification
A Mixed Message
This week we read a double Parsha Acharei Mot and K’doshim. The first Parsha is a description of the Kohen Gadol, holiest Jew in the nation, in the Kodesh Hakadashim (Holy of Holies), holiest place in the world, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year.
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Acharei Mot K’doshim: A Lifetime of Forward Steps
Be Holy
Our Parsha exhorts us to be holy and the reason given is “For I (Hashem) am holy”. The Midrash adds that though we are encouraged to reach for Hashem’s holiness, it will always remain beyond us. What did the Midrash seek to accomplish by this statement? Try to reach …
K’doshim: Man and Tree
Three Stages in a Tree
Man and tree are the same. What happens to the tree eventually happens to man. in light of the above we explore the teaching from this week’s Parsha that forbids the eating of fruit from the first three years of the tree’s existence. On the fourth …
Tazria Mitzorah: Circumcision – The Mark of Truth
Eight Days
A baby is born, Mazal Tov, now the mad rush begins. Whom do you call first? Parents before siblings, siblings before friends and friends before colleagues. Every call brings new questions: what is the baby’s, weight, size, eye color and, of course, gender. Is it a boy or a …
Tazria Mitzora: Isolationist Joys
Not A Simple Pain
In discussing the subject of “Tzoraas: Biblical leprosy,” our sages explained that it was not a physical ailment but a manifestation of a spiritual malaise. The Jewish body is intimately linked with the soul and when the soul is ailing the body responds accordingly.
The spiritual ailment of …