After the Death — By Ben
This past Shabbos/end of Pesach I found myself in Bellevue Washington. A good friend from my years in Seattle was getting married over the holiday weekend and lucky for me […]
Category Archives: Leviticus/Vayikra
Tazria – Don’t Cast Out the Leper — By Ben
One of the things that has bothered me about the Torah is the insensitive treatment of a person who has contracted leprosy. Exiling said person like a piece of garbage, […]
Acharei Mos – Does Judaism believe in Satan? — By Ben
This week’s parsha details a bizarre ritual the Jews were to perform on Yom Kippur. Basically they took two identical goats, one to be sacrificed by the Kohen Gadol (high […]
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 […]
Kedoshim – Who the Hell Wants to be Holy? — By Ben
I don’t know about you, but I never have had any desire to be holy. You walk around seeing hassidic men in shtreimels avoiding all secular media or looking away from […]
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 […]
Kedoshim – The Mitzvah EVERYONE can get behind. — By Ben
People have a lot of problems with religion, especially when it comes to the Bible. Parts seem archaic or incompatible with modern living. Punishments can be harsh or unforgiving. Whole sections concern themselves with intricate […]
Acharei Mot: Going above and beyond is not always the better choice. – by Barbara Heller
Acharei Mot: Literal translation means “After Death”. The “Death” referred to here is the death of Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu whereas, in Parshat Shemini, decided to take the law […]
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 