by Raffi Levi
Posted on November 17, 2022
How can we make our religious experience sustainable? In other words, how do we maintain a sense of connection with HaShem even when we are not doing a mitzvah? Often, our experience of Judaism can feel reserved. Whether it is reserved for the Shabbat table, for holidays, for the synagogue, or for prayer.…
by Jason Goldstein
Posted on May 19, 2022
After a long chapter that puts forth the details of Shemita and Yovel, the Torah concludes Parsha Behar with “You shall keep my Sabbaths and revere my Sanctuary” (Lev 26:2). While these are essential mitzvot, why does the Torah conclude its elucidation of the laws of Shemita with two unrelated commands?…
by Jason Goldstein
Posted on May 5, 2022
In Parshat Kedoshim, we find a plethora of mitzvot. HaShem tells us “You shall each revere his mother and his father,” “Keep My sabbaths,” and “Do not steal” (Lev. 19:3, 19:11). If these mitzvot sound familiar, you are not alone. They are very reminiscent of the Aseret HaDibrot.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on January 28, 2011
There is barely a pause which separates the theophany of the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, in parshat Yitro, to the myriad of laws and the nuts-and-bolts mitzvot of parshat Mishpatim. How are we to understand this sudden transition? Where is the kedusha, the holiness, the human-divine encounter, that follows Sinai, that can be considered a continuation of the Revelation?…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 1, 1998
The parsha of Emor centers on the sanctity of the Kohanim: their obligation not to become impure, restrictions on whom they can marry, and the conditions under which they can serve in the Temple and eat its sacrifices. The end of the parsha enumerates all the festivals of the year and the special sacrifices brought on each.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 28, 1998
Parshat Shmini opens with the culmination of the process of inducting Aaron and his sons into the priesthood. For seven days they had offered the same sacrifices and repeated the same ritual. Now, on the eighth day, a special ceremony was performed to inaugurate the sanctuary and their role in it as priests.…