The Fire Within
Mar 11, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Tzav
Parashat Tzav discusses the role of the priests in the Temple, and emphasizes the vigilance with which they were to offer sacrifices.
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Offerings As Devotion and Redemption
Feb 25, 2014 By Stephen A. Geller | Commentary | Pekudei
Parashat Pekudei ends with a tremendous scene, one of the highlights of the Bible: the divine Glory, the kavod, comes down from heaven and settles into the newly completed Tabernacle so that Moses cannot enter it.
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Vayikra—Lean Out
Feb 24, 2014 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Vayikra
This week we begin reading the middle book of the Five Books of Moses, Leviticus. Its position in the Torah scroll is not just coincidental; the laws of Leviticus are central to the earliest rabbis’ understanding of Judaism.
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Arts and Crafts: Commentary on Parashat Ki Tissa
Feb 11, 2014 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Ki Tissa
There are aspects of the Bible’s account of the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness that seem incredible; so much so that early critical commentators tended to reject its historical accuracy out of hand.
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Terumah – The Gift That Elevates
Jan 29, 2014 By Eitan Fishbane | Commentary | Terumah
Sometimes we all feel like we’re giving more than we get, that we do more than our share, or that our individual needs are being sacrificed for the sake of someone else’s happiness.
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Defining a Moral and Just Society
Jan 22, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Mishpatim
Sometimes an article in the newspaper reminds you of something in the Torah and makes you think in new ways about verses you have read many times before.
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Exodus 18: The Proverbial Visit of the In-Laws
Jan 15, 2014 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Yitro
“Come and listen to my story ’bout a man named . . . Jethro!”
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Living Practice: Not “How” but “Why”
Jan 9, 2014 By Ute Steyer | Commentary | Beshallah
“Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, ‘The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.’” (Exod. 13:17)
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