The Challenge of Nadab and Abihu
Apr 21, 2012 By Deborah Miller | Commentary | Shemini
The idea of distinctions persists throughout the Torah and in Jewish life. The word lehavdil (to separate/distinguish) occurs in the first act of Creation—“God separated/distinguished between light and darkness.” The theme continues into this week’s parashah, Shemini.
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The Liberated Bird: Let’s Talk Turkey
Apr 17, 2015 By Anne Lapidus Lerner | Commentary | Shemini
The main course at my Thanksgiving dinner—and perhaps at yours as well—is determined by a few verses in this week’s parashah, Shemini. After all, Leviticus 11 defines which living things are fit for kosher consumption, granting it a major impact on the Thanksgiving menu of kosher aviavores.
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When Theology Fails
Mar 17, 2009 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Shemini | Yom Hashoah
There is a fearful symmetry to the three chapters that make up this week’s parashah; symmetry made all the more fearful because the harmonies of theme and structure in Sh’mini contrast so mightily with the awful events it describes.
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