This week’s Torah portion speaks of the mysterious lesions that appeared on the skin of those who trafficked in gossip. Their punishment was at once severe and precise: they were cast into isolation for up to three weeks, until their affliction healed.
The Torah enumerates many forms of ritual impurity. Some …
Jacob went to bed on a mountain and placed his head on twelve stones. In the morning, when he awoke, the twelve stones had fused into one. Our sages taught that during the night the angels in charge of these stones began to argue because each wanted to serve as …
G-d is You
As a child I recall walking with my father one morning while he was telling my older brothers that nothing exists outside of G-d. In fact, he said, G-d is in everything. He is the flower, the street, the car, He is even you. This captured my childish …
Holiday Revelry
My earliest Purim memories are joyous. Festive gatherings and celebrations were held in the synagogues while jubilation and dancing dominated the streets. Young and old, rich and poor, celebrated side by
side; jovial, reveling and genuinely happy.
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Absent
This week we marked the Yahrtzeit of Moses, who passed away on the 7th of Adar, 3488 or 1273 BCE. This was just 33 days before Joshua led the Jews into Israel. We know this because the Jews crossed into Israel on the 13th of Nissan. We also know that …
These past two days have been the most difficult for our people in the last fifty years. It was Simchat Torah, a time for rejoicing, yet it was a time of horror. Nearly a thousand members of our family were brutally murdered, more than a hundred were taken hostage, and …
