By Rabbi Margie Cella
We read this week of the departure of the nation from Mount Sinai, beginning their journey to Canaan. After camping at the foot of the mountain for two years while they constructed...
by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields
Parashat Nasso concludes with one of the most beloved passages in the Torah: Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing. Its final words are, “V’yasem lecha shalom” — “May God...
by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields
As Shavuot approaches, we prepare once again to stand at Sinai and receive the Torah anew. Yet the blessing we end many prayers with, Oseh Shalom bimromav — “May the One...
by Rabbi Margie Cella
This week we begin the fourth book of the Torah, Bamidbar, in the wilderness, which tells the story of our journey from Sinai to the Jordan River, an eleven-day journey that took...
by Rabbi Margie Cella
This week we finish up the book of Vayikra with another double parashah. Just as the week follows a cycle of six workdays followed by a day of rest, so, too, does the land: six years...
by Rabbi Margie Cella
The fourth aliyah of this week’s parashah is one of three places in the Torah where we learn about the cycle of holidays that we are to celebrate throughout the year. God tells Moses...
by Rabbi Margie Cella
We have another double parashah this week. The first is named Achrei Mot, meaning “after [the] death.” It refers to the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, who were consumed by...
by Rabbi Margie Cella
This week’s double parashah deals with the subject of leprosy and other forms of impurity. The tsara-at of the Torah is not the same leprosy that we know today. It was some kind of...
by Rabbi Margie Cella
Here’s a bit of trivia for all those who love numbers: this week’s parashah, Shemini (“eighth”), is the only parashah whose name has a number in it. It tells the story of the...
by Rabbi Margie Cella
This week we will gather at our Seder tables with family and friends to mark the beginning of the Pesach holiday. In the Book of Exodus, Moses’ name appears 290 times, Aaron’s 31...
