Thoughts on Parashat Tazria

The ancient Israelites, as well as the Sages of the Talmudic era, generally believed that diseases, including skin afflictions, are a result of sin – an improper or immoral behavior. Separating people from the community for this reason was aimed at stopping the spread of the disease – our ancient ancestors knew that fact very well; what they didn’t understand was the biological mechanism that caused the spread. Additionally, the entire ancient Jewish ‘philosophy of medicine’ was entirely focused on preventive measures and avoidance. (contrary to the Greek model that looked for the[…]

[maxbutton id=”6″ url=”https://polishjewsreviving.org/szabat-zachor/” ] The last Shabbat before Purim is known as Shabbat Zachor, which can be translated into English as the ‘Shabbat of Remember! (imperative)’. On Shabbat Zachor, on top of the regular Torah portion, we read a special maftir, an additional reading. It recalls the vicious attack of Amalekites on the Israelites soon […]

Thoughts on Parashat Pekudei

The impossible happened in the city of Chełm. The body of a young man was found. The rabbis and elders of the city conducted an investigation and determined that the young man had been murdered, and the motive was rivalry for the hand of a certain young woman. According to Jewish law, murder is punishable by death. The culprit was found – it was a local tailor. However, the rabbis and elders of the city decided to sentence the local shoemaker to death. Why? There were two shoemakers in Chełm, but there was only one tailor.[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Ki Tisa

Our parasha for this week tells one of the most famous of Biblical stories – the story of the Israelite betrayal – the story of the Golden Calf. Impatient Israelites couldn’t wait any longer for Moses’ comeback from Mount Sinai, to the extent that they lost the hope that he would ever come back to them, so they decided to take the matters in their own hand.[…]