by Rabbi Margie Cella This parashah, the last in the book of Vayikra, begins with God promising many future blessings for the nation, if they follow the laws and the commandments:...
by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields Parashat Behar continues the discussion of being holy, as it relates to land. We read about the Sabbatical, Shemittah, and allowing the land to rest. This often...
by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields The name of our Torah reading this week, Emor, means speak. God tells Moses to speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. There are many different instructions...
by Rabbi Margie Cella In this parashah, God commands that we be holy because God is holy. This is achieved through the observance of God’s mitzvot, dozens of which are delineated in this portion....
by Rabbi Margie Cella Moses seeks assurance that God will accompany the nation on the journey when they leave from Sinai. Though God denies his request to see the divine presence, God shows Moses a cleft...
by Rabbi Margie Cella We learn of the purification ritual for a leper who has been healed. Two live birds were needed. One was slaughtered, the other dipped in its blood before being set free. After another...
by Rabbi Margie Cella This week’s parashah begins with the description of the purification ritual for a woman following childbirth. If she gave birth to a boy, she was ritually impure for seven...
by Rabbi Margie Cella This week’s parashah describes the events of the eighth day (Shmini means “eighth”) of the consecration ceremony for the priests. Moses told Aaron and his sons to bring...
by Rabbi Margie Cella This second parashah of Leviticus continues to define seven different types of offerings that one could bring. For each one we learn what was offered and by whom, what motivated...
by Rabbi Margie Cella This third book of the Torah, considered by many to be a part of the “priestly” texts, contains more than half of the 613 mitzvot. The predominant theme of this parashah is...
