The Shortened Arm

Depression, sorrow, and despondency spiritually blinds us, causing us to forget the awesome power of God.

THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION:

Beha'alotcha (בהעלותך | When you set up)

Torah: Numbers 8:1-12:15

Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14-4:7

Gospel: Luke 17:11-18:14

Raising the lights

(Numbers 8:2)
Sivan 11, 5776/June 17, 2016

Parashat Beha'alotcha opens with the sublime image of Aharon literally "raising the lights"of the golden menorah and closes with the inexplicable harsh words spoken by Miriam andAharon about their brother Moshe, and G-d's severe response to Miriam's lapse of judgement, and in between these two events, Beha'alotcha chronicles the no less extreme examples of the best of, and the worst of, the children of Israel. The plethora of incidents it describes and the breadth of radical shifts in faith and trust in G-d and the concomitant extremes in behavior make Beha'alotcha a tour-de-force, an almanac of 'the best of times and the worst of times' for the nation of Israel.

Confession and Repentance

Confession is the essential part of repentance; and the more one confesses, the more praiseworthy he is.

THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION:

Nasso (נשא | Take up)

Torah: Numbers 4:21-7:89

Haftarah: Judges 13:2-5

Gospel: John 11:1-54

Journey through the Wilderness

Life is a test... Actually, it's more like a long journey through the wilderness. With tests along the way. Lots of them.

THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION:

Bamidbar (במדבר | In the wilderness)

Torah: Numbers 1:1-4:20

Haftarah: Hosea 2:1-22

Gospel: Luke 16:1-17:10

The sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel

(Numbers 1:2)
Iyar 26, 5776/June 3, 2016

Establishing an army for the purpose of preserving the position of those in power... that's tyranny. Creating an army of citizens, each man defending his own homestead... that's democracy. We all see the terror in the first proposition. And the second proposition makes perfect sense as long as every man shares a common goal, trust, empathy and equality. But who determines the common goal, who commands our trust, our empathy, and who ensures that every man is created equal?

Shalom in the Land

The most effective measure that the modern state of Israel could take to improve the security situation is to turn back to the Torah and place hope in the Messiah.

THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION:

Bechukotai (בחקותי | In my statutes)

Torah: Leviticus 26:3-27:34

Haftarah: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14

Gospel: Luke 14:1-15:32

If you follow My statutes

(Leviticus 26:3)
Iyar 19, 5776/May 27, 2016

With this week's reading of Bechukotai we conclude the book of Leviticus. For ten weeks we have been studying intensely each word and passage of this fascinating book which is the third among the five books of the Torah, the heart of G-d's revelation to His people at Sinai. The book gives instruction concerning the offerings to be brought to the Tabernacle/Holy Temple, various laws of (spiritual) purity, as well as recording different historical incidents, such as the inauguration of the Tabernacle, the untimely death ofNadav and Avihu, and the Israelite blasphemer. Yet, astonishingly, the upcoming book of Numbers picks up at precisely the same moment and location that the book of Leviticus began. How can this be? Has time stood still? Has it all been but a dream?