The number four is a central feature of the Passover Seder. We have the 4 cups of wine, the 4 Biblical expressions of redemption (Exodus 6:6-7), the 4 questions, and the 4 sons. Is there a connection between Passover and the number 4? The number 4 is represented by the… Read More »EXODUS 6:6-7 – BIBLICAL EXPRESSION OF NUMBER FOUR
The Torah refers to matzah as “lechem oni” – the bread of affliction or bread of poverty (Deuteronomy 16:3). We are told that our ancestors were fed matzah by their Egyptian taskmasters. If that’s the case, why is matzah used as a symbol of our liberation and freedom from Egypt?… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 16:3 – THE FOUNDATION OF FREEDOM
The Torah portion of Metzorah deals with the spiritual affliction called Tzara’as that can affect a person’s skin, clothing, or house. During leap years, like this year, we usually read Metzorah prior to Passover. Is there a connection? Rabbi Eliezer Breitowitz points out that, indeed, our sages teach that the… Read More »METZORAH – SPIRITUAL AFFLICTION
This coming Shabbat is called Shabbat HaGadol – The Great Sabbath. There are many reasons offered to explain this name. One reason derives from the special Haftarah (passage from the prophets) that is read after the weekly Torah portion in the synagogue. The special reading for Shabbat HaGadol is from… Read More »SHABBAT HAGADOL
“The Priest shall look, and behold, if the affliction has covered his entire flesh, then he shall declare the affliction to be pure…” (Leviticus 13:13). This seems impossible to understand, since in all other cases of tzora’as that affect only part of the body, the person is considered ritually impure!… Read More »LEVITICUS 13:13 – SLANDEROUS GOSSIP
“…When a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy…” (Leviticus 12:2) In the Torah portion Tazriah, the word in the above verse translated as ‘conceives’. This theme coincides with the special Shabbat we will have this week, which is also the beginning of the month of Nissan, the 1st… Read More »LEVITICUS 12:2 – AFTER THE BEGINNING
“Whatever crawls on its belly…” (Leviticus 11:42). The word for stomach/belly is gachon. The letter vav in this word is always written enlarged in a Torah scroll. It happens to be the middle letter in the entire Torah, the center point. The meaning of vav in Hebrew is a hook.… Read More »LEVITICUS 11:42 – CAPTURING CONNECTION
“The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. Do not extinguish it” (Leviticus 6:5). The final phrase “lo tichbeh” is normally translated as ‘do not extinguish it’. The Maggid of Mezeritch, however, had a creative spin on how to read this phrase. He took it as an… Read More »LEVITICUS 6:5 – KEEP THE FIRE BURNING
“He shall bring an unblemished ram, from the sheep, of the proper value as a guilt offering to the Priest. The Priest will make atonement for him – for the error which he did unintentionally and he did not know, and he will be pardoned.” (Leviticus 5:18) This sacrifice is… Read More »LEVITICUS 5:18 – HE WILL BE PARDONED
“For if a person does not put his trust in G-d, he places his trust in what is other than G-d. (Their doctors, their own cleverness, etc.) And whoever trusts in what is other than G-d, G-d removes His providence from him and leaves him in the hands of whatever… Read More »WHERE IS OUR TRUST?
