FOSTERING A VIBRANT RENEWAL OF JUDAISM IN POLAND
The Torah portion for this week, Metzorah, talks about various kinds of afflictions, plagues etc. that can make our life very difficult, if not unbearable. To describe these phenomena the Torah uses the word negah (pl. negaim), which is the same language the Torah uses to describe Egyptian plagues.[…]
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[…]
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 after their Exodus from […]
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.[…]
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.[…]
Within the last few days The Jerusalem Post, as well as several other media outlets, covered a report, presented by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, that analyzes confidential and public testimonies, eye-witness accounts, and interviews with victims, first responders and witnesses. It was sent to “decision-makers” in the United Nations to leave “no room for denial or disregard”. The report analyzes numerous testimonies from the October 7 massacre specifically relating to Hamas’s sexual violence revealed that families and friends were forced by Hamas terrorists to watch their loved ones be raped and sexually assaulted at gunpoint. […] “The terrorist organization Hamas chose to harm Israel strategically in two clear[…]
