Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 30, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
this parsha is one that sits heavy with death. for one thing, early on, we get the description of what to do when one comes in contact with a dead body. and then, as if the Torah was simply giving us the procedure in order to prepare us for what’s to come, we learn of Continue Reading »
Posted on June 21, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parsha, there is a fair amount of death. entire families are swallowed up by the earth. a raging fire consumes two hundred and fifty men. an infectious plague spreads wildly and kills fourteen thousand and seven hundred people. this is the price for challenging authority. these deaths are all in retaliation for Continue Reading »
Posted on May 28, 2011 by Shibley
Israel bears an incredible cost for its existence. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the numbers of Israelis whose lives have been lost to war and terrorism is staggering, relative to the size of the country. This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to go to Har Herzel, one of Israel’s military cemeteries, the Continue Reading »
Posted on May 25, 2011 by Joel D.
Posted on May 22, 2011 by Jean
When Job’s three friends heard about all these calamities that had befallen him, each came from his home…. They met together to go and console and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance… they broke into loud weeping; each one tore his robe and threw dust into the air onto his head. They Continue Reading »
Posted on May 5, 2011 by Barer
I would hesitantly posit, without verification, that this week’s parsha is the parsha that is read from the most in a Jewish yearly cycle, due to the inclusion of a summary of the major Jewish holidays in the middle. However, upon reading through the parsha closely, what struck me was exactly how little the holidays Continue Reading »
Posted on April 15, 2011 by Barer
Rashi, in his first comment on the parsha (16:1), asks the perennial question: Why, after two parshiyot talking about the details of ritual impurity, does the text remind us so clearly that Aaron has recently lost his two eldest sons? Rashi quotes the book Torat Kohanim (The Book of Priests, 16:3), the main collection of Continue Reading »
Posted on April 11, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
i would’ve wanted more. two parshiot later after the death of aharon’s sons, parshat achrei mot, picks up at the moment following their deaths. back in parshat shimini, where we actually learn of the boys’ all-too-close encounter with foreign fire, God speaks directly to aharon in a rare moment of personal revelation. okay, at least Continue Reading »
Posted on March 27, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This past week’s parsha includes one of the few narratives in the book of Vayikra, namely the divinely ordained death of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, upon presenting their voluntary fire offering. But the telling of the acts of Nadav and Avihu and their subsequent deaths are brief and perplexing. We do not Continue Reading »
Posted on March 20, 2011 by Jean
When I drove down Whiskey Row, past the town square, someone was standing by the county courthouse, playing bagpipes. Part of my mind noted how odd that was. I parked my car by the funeral home and got out. I walked with determination halfway to the door. Then I turned around and walked back to Continue Reading »
