Hope all is well. We move on through Leviticus! Starting a new Torah portion. Emor. (Leviticus, 21) It starts with laws about the Kohain. Someone whose ancestors were priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. Like me! … No Kohain shall defile himself through contact with a dead body. (21:2) Traditionally, other than for immediate relatives, […]

Hi, This Saturday night and Sunday is Tisha B’av.  The ninth day of the Jewish month of Av. The saddest day in the Jewish calendar. Many tragedies happened to the Jewish People on that day throughout history. Including the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70. … For two […]

Hi, The last Torah Minute was not totally accurate! I kept talking about the Jewish People making and worshipping a golden calf. Well, that needs to be qualified. Part of the Jewish People did. Which part? The Talmud makes it very clear.  And a careful reading of the text supports it. (Exodus, 32:1-3) It was […]

Hi, The Temple in the desert was built with donations. Voluntary donations.  No pressure. And no mandatory “building fund”! The response was amazing.  The whole nation mobilized. Men and women brought gold, silver and other materials. … And then something amazing happened. And you may want to sit down for this! … There was too […]

Hi, The Jews were traveling through the desert. (I got the spelling right this time!) So the Temple was portable. And all the utensils had carrying poles. It was very practical.  Need to move on? You insert the poles and transport them … But when it comes to the Ark? Something very interesting. “The poles […]

Hi, When the Jewish People were in the dessert they built a portable Temple. In Hebrew?  The Mishkan. Among other things, there was an Ark.  For the tablets of the Ten Commandments. And the Torah gives the dimensions of the Ark. “Two and a half cubits long.  A cubit and a half wide.  And a […]

Hi, I sat down at my computer to work on today’s Torah Minute. And before I got started? I figured I would click on today’s New York Times. To see what’s happening in the world. And something caught my eyes. A carved wooden bust of Tutankhamen. A.k.a. King Tut! It was an article about a […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day! We’ve seen that in Jewish tradition, Abraham personifies acts of kindness. And Isaac? He represents Divine service. Things like prayer. Introspection. Spirituality. You might think of Isaac as a very big Tzadik. An extremely righteous man. A “holy man.” And sometimes we have a picture of such people. […]