Category: parsha
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Parshat Bamidbar — Happy Birthday Al Capone
One dark Chicago night in 1926, Fats Waller was leaving his regular gig at the Sherman Hotel when he was surrounded by four armed men. Waller was one of the most popular jazz musicians of his time, and one of the most prolific composers. But he had no idea what was about to happen. One… Read more
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Parshat Emor — Confronting death
Today, Amherst, Massachusetts, is a medium-sized town 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Boston, home to over 40,000 people. But in the 19th century, Amherst was a quiet, unremarkable town, with a much smaller population which, over 100 years, doubled in size from 2,500 to 5,000. For such a small town, it was home to a… Read more
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Parshat Mishpatim: Let Them Eat Cake
In his inaugural electoral speech on Tuesday night, Benny Gantz compared the current Israeli government to King Louis XVI, implying that the country is in danger of heading towards a revolution. “The basic values of Israeli statehood have been converted into the mannerisms of a French royal house,” Gantz said. Instead of serving the people,… Read more
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Parshat Yitro: The 12 Tables
The Roman Plebians were sick of being abused by the Patricians and demanded more power in governing the city. Around 462 BCE Terentilius — who was the Plebian Tribune at the time — advocated for a written set of laws that would govern Roman citizens. Until that time, laws had been a combination of whatever… Read more
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Parshat Beshalach: The Green Book
The “Green Book” won several awards at the Golden Globes last week, including “Best Motion Picture.” The movie, set in 1960, tells the story of the relationship between an African-American classical pianist and the Italian-American bouncer he hires to drive him on a concert tour through the racially divided deep south. The movie’s title comes… Read more
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Parshat Bo: The power of youth
For more than a hundred years, from the end of the fifth century BCE, the Spartan army was the supreme fighting force in the ancient world. The Spartans were not known for their advances in science, technology or medicine. Apart from the Chilon in the 6th century BCE (who was renowned as one of the… Read more
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Parshat Vayechi: The Final Journey
This was originally published on the Times of Israel website. The elaborate funeral Joseph gave his father may shed light on the mysterious talmudic claim that Jacob never died On November 30, 2018, George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, passed away at his home in Houston, Texas, nine months after… Read more
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You have much, sons of Levi
Next week (well this week, starting at Mincha) we read the parsha of Korach, when Korach and a team from the tribe of Reuven challenge Moshe’s leadership. They claim that the entire congregation is holy, so why should Aharon be singled out as High Priest. They accuse Moshe of nepotism, and end up digging a… Read more
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Schlissel Challah (Key Challah)
Some have a custom to bake challah with a key inside it (or challah in the shape of a key) the Shabbat following Pesach. This has never been my custom (or my family’s custom) nor have i ever lived in a community where the custom was widespread. Nevertheless, with the internet (and particularly facebook) minhagim… Read more
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Book of Vayikra is not about Mishkan
I just wanted to point out something which is very obvious, but often overlooked. The book of Vayikra has nothing to do with the Mishkan! The Mishkan is described and built in the last 5 parshiyot of Shemot. Shemot ends with the Shechina descending on the Mishkan. However, in the last few verses of Shemot… Read more