“I see why you wear that shirt, you’re trying to hide your belly, but you can’t do that, it’s right there so you better do some diet”. I remember that I felt beyond embarrassed, totally naked. “It’s late in the evening; she’s wondering what clothes to wear She puts on her make-up and brushes her long blonde hair And
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Taking the Time: Parashat Yitro 5779/2019 This week while trying to get an idea for a Tu’bshvat inspired Shabbat dinner I bumped into an article that compared between the traditional Jewish dish Cholent made over 16 hours and Cholent made in the instant pot. The conclusion was clear, the instant one doesn’t work. http://foodaism.com/instant-pot-cholent-v-le-creuset-cholent/ Once we used to think about
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Teach me my God to bless, to pray On the mystery of the withered leaf, on the splendor of ripe fruit, On the freedom to see, to feel, to breathe, To know, to wish, to fail. Teach my lips blessing and song of praise, Renewing your time each morning, each night, Lest my day today be as yesterday Lest my
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ELE PEKUDEI HAMISHKAN – “These are the numbers of the Mishkan”, they are the words that begin our Torah portion. We are concluding the fifth of 5 Torah portions that are focused on the construction of the Tabernacle. We continue reading on Exodus 38:21 : “These are the numbers of the Mishkan that are counted by Moses’ command.
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“This Torah portion begins with “Shelach lecha”. According to Rashi, God says – if you wish, send the envoys over to check. We often think that we need to see in order to believe. However this portion demonstrates that the truth is generally the opposite: we need to believe in order to see”. People know a lot about statistics, but statistics
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Army. This is the first word in my reading of Parashat Bamidbar, and it’s the most remarkable word. It is of course not a new word in the Torah, but it is a new concept. The Israelites are turning into a nation, and as such we need an army! Following God’s announcement to Moses about enrolling the people of Israel in
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Parashat Kedoshim: Res non verba! (Deeds not words) Often the role of the interpreter of the words of the Torah is to bridge the gap between the text and the reader. In other cases our role is much closer to delivering the message “as is”. Parashat Kedoshim (Lev. 19-20) is one of the latter, conveying a clear message and
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Yeshayahu Leibowitz explains that the reason to couple the Torah portions of Tazri’a and Metzora (Leviticus 12:1-15:33) in the Jewish communal reading of the Torah is that they both deal with biology of Man, with the biological filth of human existence. A central element in both portions is impurity. A woman who gave birth is considered impure for a period of
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Which messages do you have graven in your mind? What things have you renounced, perhaps you miss, perhaps you’re not sure where you left? Could your Jewish identity be one of those things? Are you possibly about to lose the Passover Seder? If we could stop time for a second, I’d love to think with you about identity! It is
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Everything Changes, Take a Risk and Live! This Shabbat is called “Shabbat Hagadol” – the great Shabbat. It is the last one before Passover and it the one in which the Rabbis stand before their congregations and public and teach them (or revise) the laws and conducts related to the celebration. The list of things that the celebration of Pesach
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Po Ve Sham 