W tym tygodniu czytamy dwie parsze, Wajakhel i Pekudej. Wynika to z księżycowo-słonecznego charakteru żydowskiego kalendarza, w którym w latach nieprzestępnych (na przykład w roku 5778) nie starczy tygodni na czytanie każdej parszy oddzielnie. W ten sposób księżyc i słońce determinują – czy tego chcemy czy nie – rytm żydowskiego życia. Wpływ ten był oczywiście […]
Trumah: What Can You Contribute to Your Community?
In the first aliyah of this week’s Torah portion, Trumah, we find the following words: [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] ‘Have them make an ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both […]
Face to Face with an Eye for an Eye
This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, abounds in legal statements. No wonder – its very name can be translated as legal ordinances. Legal norms in Mishpatim cover a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from treatment of slaves and socially disadvantaged individuals to observance of Shabbat and festivals. According to Sefer HaHinuch, a medieval treatise enumerating and […]
We All Stood Together at Sinai
In this week’s parasha Yitro, we read about the most important event in the history of Jewish people – the revelation of Torah on Sinai. Thus, many Jews coming to the synagogue on Shabbat Yitro spend the first minutes of the Torah reading preparing themselves emotionally and intellectually for the covenantal words of Exodus 20:2, […]