This week we read two Parashot, Vayakhel and Pekudei. The reason for this is the lunar-solar nature of the Jewish calendar, wherein in non-leap years (such as the year 5778) there aren’t enough weeks to read each Torah portion separately. Thus – whether we like it or not – the Moon and the Sun determine […]

Thoughts on Parashat Ki Tisa and on the Purim Megillah [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people is guilty of a great sin in making for themselves a god of gold. Now, if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, […]

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 […]

Thoughts on Parashat Terumah In the last two weeks we read about the revelation at Sinai, where God came down from heaven to earth, to reveal to the Jewish people eternal, divine law and eternal truths. Some of them – the Ten Commandments – were carved in stone, which symbolizes, in my view, their fundamental […]