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 […]
VaYechi – 5775
What made Judah the “Lion-King” of his brothers? 2nd January 2015/11 Tevet 5775 In the last four ‘parashot’ (pl. of parasha=portions) of Genesis, Joseph emerges as the most talented among the twelve sons of Jacob, and the one whose meteoric rise to power in Egypt eventually changes the entire history of our people. However, parallel […]
VaYigash – 5775
Shabbat 26-27 December, 2014 Pharoe, impressed by the old semitic shepherd standing in front of him asks: How many are the years of your life [Gen.47:8]? However, Jacob replies using a different noun: “The years of my sojourn (=meguray) are thirty and a hundred years… [ibid:9] why ‘my sojourn’ and not ‘my life’? The simplest, […]