[maxbutton id=”6″ url=”https://polishjewsreviving.org/pesach-2019/” ] BEIT POLSKA (Warszawa & Gdansk) – It seems strange to some, but Pessach falls in the First Month of our Jewish calendar, Nissan, because Judaism is based on a Liberation, which took place in Nissan. Rosh Hashanah, the so-called ‘New Year’, in contrast, falls in the autumn, in the Seventh Month, […]

[maxbutton id=”6″ ] In our tradition the last Shabbat before Pesach is called Shabbat HaGadol, which literally means the “Great Shabbat”. This was one of the two Shabbats throughout the year on which Rabbis would give a long sermon explaining to the members of their communities the commandments related to Pesach, especially the laws related […]

Thoughts on Parasha Shemini In this week’s Torah portion (Leviticus/Vajikra 9:1-11:47) Aaron and his sons begin to fulfill the duties of kohanim (priests). God sends a fire which consumes the sacrifices on the altar; thereby the Divine presence begins to live in the Tent of Meeting, in Hebrew also called the Mishkan.1 [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” […]

Beit Warszawa, March 22th, 2019 – The Torah portion for this week contains a lot of ritual instructions for the different sacrifices. On the surface these instructions are, for many readers, rather boring, certainly repetitive and essentially irrelevant. I can understand this point of view, but I do not wholly share it. For me they […]