To Be Heard Is to Be Helped

To Be Heard Is to Be Helped

Mar 23, 1996 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayikra

Translations conceal as much as they convey.

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Leadership in Revelation

Leadership in Revelation

Mar 19, 2005 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayikra

Modernity erupted in Jewish history in 1782 in the garb of midrash.

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The Ancestral Roots of our Morals

The Ancestral Roots of our Morals

May 21, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Vayikra

How wonderful to derive a great lesson from such a simple turn of phrase.

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Calling Out

Calling Out

Mar 24, 2007 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayikra

This week represents new beginnings in the Jewish calendar. We welcomed the month of Nisan in which we celebrate our birth as a people and a nation; and this week we begin a new book of Torah, Leviticus, or in Hebrew, Va–yikra.. More than the significance of this liminal moment is the extent to which the notion of relationship locates itself at the core of both of these events. In so many ways, Nisan celebrates the relationship of God and Israel — God’s act of covenantal fulfillment and hesed in taking the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. And similarly, the Book of Leviticus opens with a curious commentary on relationships — specifically, the relationship between God and Moses.

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A House of Prayer for All Peoples

A House of Prayer for All Peoples

Apr 1, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayikra | Pesah

Creative tension is ever present in the poles found within Judaism. We are drawn to the balance between keva and kavannah, that which is fixed and that which is spontaneous; Hassidim fervently debate the Mitnagdim over the line between spirituality and intellectualism; and we are constantly in search of the golden mean between halakhah (law) and aggadah (lore). Another pair of opposites embedded within Judaism is the constant tension between particularity and universality. To what extent should a Jew be zealous in the particular observance of Jewish identity? Or is Torah better understood as a Jewish lens into universal experience?

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Lines of Communication

Lines of Communication

Mar 27, 2004 By Rachel Ain | Commentary | Vayikra

Has God ever called out to you? What did God say? What was God looking for? What kind of response did you give? It is not so often that God calls each of us directly. In fact, I would assume that most of us, while constantly striving to establish a relationship with God, have not received the call, as Moses does in the beginning of Leviticus, the third book of the Torah.

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In Anticipation of the Meal

In Anticipation of the Meal

Mar 15, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Vayikra

Perhaps it is the most troubling passages of the Torah which cause us to think and learn the most. At first glance, we may find them most difficult to accept — and may want to reject them out of hand. But at second and third glances, we may find that our discomfort gives way to new learning and new understanding.

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The Third Party

The Third Party

Mar 16, 2002 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Vayikra

Of the various sacrifices discussed in Parashat Vayikra, the one which struck me this year had, ostensibly, nothing to do with offending or pleasing God! It concerned a guilt offering brought to God after one had wronged his “neighbor” or “fellow”:

“If a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by dealing deceitfully with his fellow in the matter of a deposit or a pledge, or through robbery, or by defrauding his fellow, or by finding something lost and lying about it ; if he swears falsely regarding any one of the various things that one may do and sin thereby… ” (Leviticus 5:21).

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