The Mussar teachers draw three major lessons from Parshat Tzav:
Character traits can be for the good or for the bad. What matters is how we use them. And for […]Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudi
The Book of Exodus completes with a description of the building of the Mishkan. Just before Moses leads the Israelites in its construction, he reminds them that the Sabbath comes […]
Parshat Vayikra
Leviticus is a guide through the rituals and rules of the priests serving in the Mishkan, taking us ultimately to the truths found in the holy of holies. As we […]
Parshat Ki Tisa
Apis Bull
Immensely popular throughout Egyptian history, the cult of Apis was not that of all bulls, but rather of a special, carefully chosen individual animal. Apis (Hapi in Egyptian) […]
Parshat Tetzaveh
Tetzaveh continues the detailed description of the artifacts and materials of the Sanctuary. It might seem that the Torah has little to teach us here about spiritual development or becoming […]
Parshat Terumah
Parshat Terumah describes the architecture and furniture of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. In Jewish thought there is a correspondence between the Mishkan and the Revelation at Sinai (Rabbi Michel Barenbaum). […]
Parshat Mishpatim
Shemot (23: 1-3) (Robert Alter, trans.) You shall not bear a false rumor. You shall not put your hand with the guilty to be a harmful witness. You shall not […]
Parshat Yitro
Shemot (18: 1) (Robert Alter, trans.) And Jethro priest of Midian, Moses’s father-in-law, heard …
Robert Alter Jethro: As Umberto Cassuto and others have noticed, this episode stands in neat […]
Parshat Beshalach
Faith, Trust, and Fear In the last couple of weeks we looked at the hardened heart and the constricted soul. Pharaoh represented our yetzer hara, our inclination to close our […]
Parshat Bo
A Darkness One Can Feel In the interpretative path we are taking, the Pharaoh is not a historical figure but represents a way in which we resist change and growth. […]