Shabbat HaGadol -5775 “The offering (minchah) of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant to Adonai as in the days of old and as in ancient years.” [Malachi 3:4] This verse, which begins the Haftarah on the Sabbath preceding Passover, Shabbat HaGadol, received a surprising modern Midrashic interpretation in the early 20th century. The noun ‘Minchah’ […]
Why Were We Redeemed? –Judaism by the Genes or by The Gains?
Shabbat haChodesh 5775 Why did God redeem us from slavery, persecution and suffering from Egypt, Babylon, and other countries already 3 times in our 35 centuries of history? The basic, common answer is simple: God promised Abraham to rescue his offspring. “VeHee sheamda laavoteinu velanu =This ancient Divine pledge secured our survival and the survival […]
Why Did Moses Break the Two Tablets?
Ki Tissa 5775 Why did Moses break the two tablets of the covenant? Did he do it deliberately or they simply fell off his hands and broke as they hit the mountain rock under him?An early reply for the second question is given by the ‘Masora’ which reads “shibarta” instead of “Shavarta” in Exodus 34:1 […]
Bo – 5775
23 stycznia 2015/3 szwat 5775 The first Divine commandment to all humans is “Be fertile and increase” [Gen.1:28]. The first Divine commandment to the Israelites is “This month [of Springtime] is for you the first of the months, it is the beginning of the year” [Ex.12:2] i.e. Establishing a national calendar in which the first […]
Terumah – 5775
20th February, 2015/1 Adar 5775 If you ask any modern Hebrew speaker what is the meaning of the noun “Teruma” (more commonly pronounced: “Truma”) the answer would be “a donation” –a sum of money that a person gives voluntarily for a public purpose, to benefit his/her community or society at large. The origin of this […]
BeShalach 5775
30th January, 2015/10 Shvat 5775 Shirat HaYam –‘Song of the Sea’ or ‘Song on the Sea’ is one of the most beautiful and one of the most ancient pieces of Hebrew Poetry. I recall Prof. Moshe Greenberg saying that the deliverance of our ancestors from the mighty Egyptian Empire was such an incredible event, that […]