The Shining Letters Shalom, This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion “Te’tzaveh” in the book of Exodus. In this portion the Torah tells us in detail about the priestly garments to be worn by all the priests – kohanim. One (out of eight) of the garments that the High […]
Bread of All Bread Shalom, This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion “T’rumah” in the book of Exodus. In this Torah portion Moses is commanded to build a sanctuary: וְעָשׂוּ לִי, מִקְדָּשׁ; וְשָׁכַנְתִּי, בְּתוֹכָם And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them… […]
Special Soul Shalom, This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion “Mishpatim” in the book of Exodus. In this portion G‑d promises to bring the people of Israel to the Holy Land, and warns them against assuming the pagan ways of its current inhabitants. Series of laws are given to the people […]
To the Letter… Shalom, This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion “Yitro” in the book of Exodus. In this portion the Torah tells us that on the sixth day of the third month (Sivan), seven weeks after the Exodus, the entire nation of Israel – 600,000 people, assembles in the Sinai Desert at […]
The Inner Power of Aleph Shalom, This Shabbat we will read Torah portion “Bo” – בא in the book of Exodus. This Torah portion describes the three last plagues (out of ten) brought on Egypt. Several commentators indicate that the hint to these last three plagues is contained […]
Gift or Inheritance? Shalom, This Shabbat we will read Torah portion “Va’eirah” in the book of Exodus. In this Torah portion the message of redemption is conveyed from God to Moses and is concluded with the following promise: וְנָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ לָכֶם מוֹרָשָׁה, אֲנִי יְהוָה […]
Nameless “Names” Shalom, This Shabbat we will start reading the book of Exodus, called in Hebrew שמות, which means “Names”. And the first portion in this book is also called “Names” – שמות. Speaking of names, we are faced with a puzzling phenomenon in this […]
Future vs. Past Shalom, This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion “Va’Yehi“, which concludes the book of Genesis. This Torah portion contains the famous blessing bestowed by Jacob on his grandchildren, which has been used over generations as a blessing of father to his sons. […]
A Paradigm Shift Shalom, This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion “Va’Yigash” in the book of Genesis. In the previous Torah portion Yosef has accused Binyamin of stealing. He has threatened to imprison Binyamin. As this Torah portion opens, Yehuda intervenes with Yosef on Binyamin’s […]
The GULAG Menorah Shalom, This time we would like to share with you a story of devotion and courage lighting the Chanukah Menorah in a Soviet GULAG. GULAG – an acronym from Russian “Glavnoe Upravlenie ispravitel’no-trudovykh LAGerei – “Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps”. Between the years […]