Tzav – Shabbat Hagadol – Timing is Everything
The week before Pesach is the hungriest week of the year for Jews. Numerous occasions bring restrictions on eating, but never are they felt as strongly as this week. On fast days we don’t...
Monthly Archive: March 2018
Vayikra / Hachodesh – The Mythology of the Exodus
“Remember the Alamo!” was the rallying cry, urging Texans in 1836 to join the army and exact revenge on the Mexican army for the Battle of the Alamo, where every last soldier, including those...
Vayakhel/Pekudei – A Teachable Moment
There was no tender, no submissions of bids, for the task of building the Mishkan. God’s choice for chief architect and supervisor of the build, as relayed by Moses, was Bezalel. Along with his...
Ki Tisa – Urban Warfare
Last week we had a small taste from the Sfat Emet commentary on the Torah, written by the Rebbe of Ger. It is worthwhile to draw again from the insight in this work to...
Zachor – Contrasts and Boundaries
The Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi (no relation) cites a passage from the Sefat Emet, a 19th century publication authored by the Hassidic Rebbe of Ger, Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter. The Midrash notes that in two...