Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
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 May 5, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I’d like to start today’s dvar Torah with a bit of a provocative riddle: What do a prostitute, Shabbat and a nazir (religious ascetic or monk) have in common? [I knew that would get your attention that way….. Now follow along with me and I’ll help you solve the riddle.] This week we Continue Reading »
Posted on May 4, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in parshat emor, God instructs moshe regarding all the rules and regulations that distinguish the life of a cohen from that of an ordinary bnei israel. and these rules are not to be taken lightly. the cohen gadol (high priest), in order to maintain his ritual purity, is unable to be around the deceased bodies Continue Reading »
Posted on April 30, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in parshat kedoshim, God opens by instructing us we’ve got to be holy because we’ve got a holy God. and in case you weren’t sure how one goes about behaving in a holy manner, we’re presented with a pretty length lists of do’s and don’ts. do honor your mother and father. don’t commit adultery. do Continue Reading »
Posted on April 18, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, Believe it or not – I’m in Jerusalem! And although I’m tempted to take a nap before Shabbat comes in, I felt it would be a bad way to start off my “spring season” of learning. So, I did some reading on the plane and managed to read over the parsha and special 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 April 8, 2011 by Barer
This weeks parsha largely continues the topic of last weeks: ritual impurity due to the affliction of tzara’at. This week it extends to the case of tzara’at showing up on a house or clothes, and the resultant procedures of cleansing the clothes, or demolishing the house. A house, or body הוא טמא עד הערב Marked Continue Reading »
Posted on April 5, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parshat metsora, we continue to delve in-depth into the procedure of ridding a leprous person of his eruptive affections. after reading pages and pages of how to determine whether a person is unclean and therefore off-limits to society, i was bewildered when i arrived to the conundrum of how to detect a Continue Reading »
Posted on April 2, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Much ink has been spilled over the seemingly cryptic laws of ritual purity and the illness of tzaraat recounted in Parshat Tazria. Actually I learned this week from Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (of the UK) that the original translation of the disease of as “leprosy”. This is a misnomer since the biblical disease of tzaraat Continue Reading »
