Beit Polska Blog

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 […]

When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye […]

This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, abounds in legal statements. No wonder – its very name can be translated as legal ordinances. Legal norms in Mishpatim cover a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from treatment of slaves and socially disadvantaged individuals to observance of Shabbat and festivals. According to Sefer HaHinuch, a medieval treatise enumerating and […]

In this week’s parasha Yitro, we read about the most important event in the history of Jewish people – the revelation of Torah on Sinai. Thus, many Jews coming to the synagogue on Shabbat Yitro spend the first minutes of the Torah reading preparing themselves emotionally and intellectually for the covenantal words of Exodus 20:2, […]