Thoughts on Parashat Behar-Bechukotai

I was born in Poland, in a country where many fundamental human freedoms were taken away for 45 years; they were taken away by autocrats who believed that the historical progress of humanity gave them knowledge of the ultimate causes of all injustices in the human world. They believed that this awareness gave them a never ending mandate to rule the country. One of the reasons their reign lasted so long was that no one was able to question, or even to point out at their limited knowledge, narrow understanding of history, their arrogance and power-greed. But there were also other reasons why this system[…]

[maxbutton id=”6″ url=”https://polishjewsreviving.org/emor-23/” ] This week’s Torah portion, Emor, describes the requirements that the priests who served in the Temple were supposed to meet. These expectations stemmed from the role the priests played in serving the Eternal: [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the […]

Thoughts on Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

Our parasha for this week talks about one puzzling feature of the ancient Yom Kippur ritual: the sending of the “scapegoat” to Azazel.

Aaron shall take the two he-goats and let them stand before יהוה at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; and he shall place lots upon the two goats, one marked for יהוה and the other marked for Azazel. Aaron shall bring forward the goat designated by lot for יהוה, which he is to offer as a sin offering; while the goat designated by lot for Azazel shall be left standing alive before יהוה, to make expiation with it and to send it off to the wilderness for Azazel.[…]

[maxbutton id=”6″ url=”https://polishjewsreviving.org/szabat-tazria-mecora-szabat-haacmaut/” ] As a student rabbi, once a month I visited a small Jewish community in Germany. My responsibilities there included leading Sunday school activities for children. One day, a week before my next scheduled visit, the chair of the community sent me an email. She suggested that I could liven things up […]