Category Archive

Parashat Metzora & Shabbat HaGadol This week’s Torah portion is called Metzora and deals with leprosy.  Leprosy is a unique disease in the Bible. Although this disease can be a physical ailment caused by a … Read More

Shabbat Parah This week we read the third of four special Sabbath readings prior to Passover. This week is Shabbat Parah. The word “parah” is cow, and the portion is found in Numbers chapter 19 … Read More

Shabbat Zachor This Shabbat is the Shabbat before Purim and therefore we read a special Maftir. This reading is found in Deuteronomy 25:17-19 and focuses on Amalek the enemy of the Jewish people. Amalek is … Read More

בס”ד Shabbat Sh’kalim The next few weeks are special in regard to what is read in the synagogue. Although the normal weekly Torah portions continue to be read, the Maftir is altered to reflect the … Read More

בס”ד Parashat Vayakhel In this week’s Torah portion special attention is given to the various vessels that were in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. There is one which I would like to emphasize … Read More

בס”ד Parashat Ki Tisa The Bible teaches that G-d is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The fact that He does not change is an important truth. In this week’s Torah portion HaShem states the … Read More

בס”ד Parashat Tetzaveh This week’s Torah portion deals almost exclusively with the levitical priests and their vestments. In this brief study we will deal with only one of the vestments called the head-plate.  This head-plate … Read More

בס”ד Parashat Terumah A famous rabbinical commentator from Italy was Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno. He lived from 1475-1550. He was well known for his interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. He had some interesting views concerning … Read More

בס”ד Parashat Mishpatim In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about hearing from G-d in a personal manner. When one studies the Bible, there is what theologians call “general revelation” that is, instruction that G-d … Read More

בס”ד Parashat Yitro Exodus 18:1-20:23 Each week a different portion of the Torah is read in the Synagogue. The portion is given a name based on the most significant word in the first or second … Read More