Parsha

Parashat Hukat: A life of meaning

The Torah teaches that genuine values require commitment and effort. A person who remains connected to their values only when it is convenient will struggle to maintain them over time.

‘MESIRUT NEFESH’: Willingness to give up comfort, time, money, and personal interests for a greater value.
ARNOLD FROM Aukland, New Zealand.

Beyond the Headlines: A letter from New Zealand - opinion

LEARNING IN the bomb shelter.

Beyond the headlines: Finding an anchor in the shelter - opinion

'Spirituality can grow without diminishing anyone,' says the writer.

Parashat Tazria-Metzora: Turning lemons into lemonade


Parashat Emor: Finding a place in time

The omer is a period of mourning but is also agriculturally significant.

A 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible,was unveiled at the Museum of the Bible on November 8, 2019.

Parashat Emor: The counting of the Omer

From the festival of matzah to the festival of hametz

YEMENITE TORAH scrolls

Parshat Shmini: The honey and the sting

The deeper lesson of the Torah’s teaching is not that one must have tragedy at the very moment of triumph, but that everything contains its opposite.

A BOY prepares to eat an apple with honey, as is traditional on Rosh Hashanah.

Parshat Shmini: Purity of the soul, restraint and humility

Kashrut is a significant part of Jewish identity. The basic principle of kashrut is that what a person puts into his body affects not only his physical health but the purity of his soul as well.

OU kashrut supervisor at work in a food manufacturing company

Parashat Vayikra: New understandings of ancient practices

With this particular book of the Bible, its focus on the sacrificial system becomes a stumbling block for many trying to derive meaning from its text.

 ‘And he shall cut it into its pieces; and the priest shall lay them, with its head and its suet, in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar’ (Leviticus 1:12). Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1-5:26, is read on March 20.

Hand, mouth or mind

There are ways to convey God's blessing even without touching.


Parashat Vayikra: ‘But I didn’t mean it!’

Four reasons, two medieval and two modern, that will help us understand something deep about the Torah and our tradition.

A 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible,was unveiled at the Museum of the Bible on November 8, 2019.

Parashat Vayikra: Standing before God

By offering a sacrifice, a person expresses the maximum nullification he can feel: giving life to God.

YEMENITE TORAH scrolls

The Golden Calf Sin: How did it really happen?

Ceremonial transitions of power and authority of an elite might be two lessons learned from the events of the Golden Calf.

PRAYING DURING the priestly blessing at the Kotel, Sukkot 2018.

Parashat Ki Tisa: Why break the tablets?

By smashing the tablets, Moses was making a declaration to all of Israel: Even the handiwork of God, which you might think of as inviolable, is nonetheless just another thing.

Marc Chagall’s ‘Moses Beholds All the Work,’ from The Story of Exodus (1966)