Tzav – When the Eternal Flame Goes Out
I grew up staring at an “eternal flame.” One day, it was gone.
It took me years to realize the lesson wasn’t that the flame failed, it’s that someone has to keep it alive.
Category Archives: Leviticus/Vayikra
For Choices That Break You Open, The Torah Sings a Special Note. But It Is Rare.
Why does Eliezer receive the shalshelet—a trope reserved for moments of profound ambivalence—when praying for a wife for Yitzchak? Through the stories of Lot, Yosef, and Moshe, the shalshelet signals intense inner conflict. Eliezer’s struggle reveals a deeper truth about prayer: not changing God, but confronting what we truly want. In an age of distraction, this ancient trope has a surprising message for us.
Shemini – Aharon’s Surviving Sons: Humility in the Face of Fire
Parsha Shimini is known for the deaths of Aharon’s oldest sons, Nadav and Avihu. With the inauguration of the Mishkan (the portable Temple also known as the Tabernacle) Aharon and […]
Don’t Cut Corners – By Ben
Have you ever noticed the Torah has some strange notions about corners? For example let me refer to two verses from this week’s Torah portion, Kedoshim. When you reap your […]
Shemini – A Rabbi’s Blessing Doesn’t Make It Kosher
My favorite guilty pleasure is chicken wings. I kinda sorta try to eat healthy (depending on your definition of the word.) But basically a low carb high protein diet has […]
Vayikra – Sacrifices Shmacrifices — By Ben
This week’s Torah portion starts the book of Vayikra, aka Leviticus. It’s one of the less exciting parts of the Torah, in that it mostly deals with the instructions and […]
Shemini – Playing with Fire
In the midst of endless halacha (laws) and details of sacrifices etc, the Torah does jump back to the narrative on occasion. And in parsha Shemini, the narrative it jumps […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 