Category: 001 – Torah – The Pentateuch
-
A reflection on the suffering of women.
A reflection on the suffering of women. This week we read the Torah portion of Vayeitzei (“and he went out”) in Genesis. Jacob sought a wife. The trickster Laban tells him he can marry Rachel the younger if he will work for him for seven years. At the last minute, Leah the older is shoved…
-
Black People Are Jewish Royalty
“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses regarding the Cushite woman he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.” Bamidbar (Numbers) 12:1 “The Lord descended in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tent. He called to Aaron and Miriam….why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?…
-
Fake Election: Adonijah Edition
This week’s Torah portion includes a reading from Kings I, 1:1-31. In it we learn that King David is elderly and frail. He has not yet selected a successor formally, but we know that he has previously promised the kingship to his wise and good son, Solomon. Meanwhile his evil son, Adonijah, plots a coup…
-
Show Some Respect
The children of Ishmael are the Muslims. HaShem honors them in the Torah by including their lineage in this week’s Torah portion. We also learn that Abraham showed respect to the Hittites by “bowing down low” (showing respect) to the Hittites and insisting on paying them for Sarah Imeinu’s grave. It is important to show…
-
The Cabal Will Never Find Eternal Life: “God Executed Judgment On Their Gods”
This week’s Torah portion is Maatos-Maasei (Numbers 30:2-36:13). Part of the portion talks about the dozens of “journeys and encampments” of the Jewish people in the desert before entering the Holy Land to conquer it. Prior to reading the Torah portion, I had read the following–a Telegram post highlighting how the Egyptians tried to bury…
-
Moses and the Rock
Photos via Pexels. I saved this post multiple times as I wrote it. Just as I was about to publish it, nearly the entire thing disappeared. I assume the message is over the spiritual target and am rewriting it. It’s interesting to me that we all read the Bible and talk about its lessons, and yet…
-
Satan 359
The supplemental reading on this week’s Torah portion, Behaalotecha (Numbers 8:1-12:16) is Zechariah 2:14-4:7. In this passage, the prophet Zechariah relays a vision of the Jewish High Priest, Joshua, being judged. He is standing in front of an angel. To his right is “the Accuser,” also known as Satan. וַיַּרְאֵ֗נִי אֶת־יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ הַכֹּהֵ֣ן הַגָּד֔וֹל עֹמֵ֕ד לִפְנֵ֖י…
-
The Baal Shem Tov Died of Grief From Sabbatian Blasphemers
Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer (~1698-1760), the founder of Hasidism, is a revered Jewish figure known as the “Ba’al Shem Tov” (“possessor of a good reputation”). The central tenet of Hasidism is that any person can connect to God immediately, personally and directly, particularly through prayer. Though he did not leave behind a book, his students…
-
Gematria 415
This past week in synagogue we read the Torah portion in Leviticus called “Kedoshim,” which means “holy” in the plural (19:1-20:27). “Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” Leviticus 19:2 The Hebrew word for “holiness” is “kedushah.” קדושה…
-
Leviticus 16:1-18:30: Prohibiting irregular sacrifice, incest, and the consumption of blood
Summary: https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/75890/jewish/Acharei-Mot-in-a-Nutshell.htm Full reading, in English: We read this in synagogue on Shabbat, April 29, 2022. The Torah doesn’t waste words. Therefore the commandments we get are pertinent to things that people actually did. It follows therefore that the nations of the world, at the time, routinely: Brought sacrifices without any sacred prompt – led…
Bible Study Now 