The Jewish people experienced a unique event at Mt. Sinai. Hashem spoke to an entire people and elevated every member of the nation, at least momentarily, to the level of prophecy. How could the Jewish people preserve, to the greatest possible degree, that connection to Hashem and the clear perception of His presence for all time? Our Sages answer, that building the Mishkan, the portable Temple, in the desert was ...
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The counting of the Omer is intimately connected to the Land of Israel, declaring the first crops of the land as belonging to God, and acknowledging His gift to our people of the land of Israel. The first commandment God gave to the first Jew was to go to the Land of Israel God spoke to Abraham, and said, ““Go for yourself, from your land, from your relatives and from ...
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The second half of this week's parsha, Shmini, deals with the laws of kashrut, the dietary laws. The Torah itself does not explicitly give a reason for these laws and much literature exists offering rationale and reasons for kashrut. One of the those is sociological and involves maintaining Jewish identity through Jewish eating. Kashrut has contributed very significantly to our survival as a distinct nation. Jews all over the world have ...
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The Seder – Seminar in a Meal The Seder is structured around the fulfillment of a number of Biblical and Rabbinic commandments – The Paschal lamb -- During the times of the Temple, the Jewish people were commanded to roast a whole lamb on a spit and eat it on the first evening of Pesach. The lamb was a symbol of Egyptian idolatry, specifically representing the ram god, Khnum who, according ...
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The Meshech Chochmah on the Four Cups (Parshas VaEirah) Our Sages instituted 4 cups of wine at the seder and the Talmud Yerushalmi says that each one of the cups of wine symbolizes a different expression of redemption. In Shmos 6:6 there are four expressions of redemption. They are: Vehhotzeisi—I will take them out Vehitzalty—I will save them Vego’alty—I will redeem them Velakachty—I will take them to me as a people. Each expression ...
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Pesach celebrates a historic event – the freeing of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt 3333 years ago. The Torah recounts how Hashem intervened in history, punished the Egyptian slave-masters and took His people –out of Egypt with miracles and wonders. The term Exodus denotes the specific departure of Bnei Yisroel from Egypt. At this time, Hashem created the physical entity known as the Jewish people and paved the ...
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One of the most peculiar laws of Purim is the obligation to drink wine, and even become intoxicated. As the Talmud states, “A person is obligated to become inebriated on Purim, until he does not know the difference between ‘Blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman.’ Excessive drinking is frowned upon by Jewish law, yet here it appears that the law specifically advocates drinking. Clearly, a person may not become ...
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The Purim story begins about 900 years after the Exodus from Egypt. The Jews had been living in Israel continually, since they first entered with Joshua. For 410 years, Shlomo Hamelech’s Bais HaMikdash in Jerusalem had been the focal point of Jewish spiritual and national life in Israel. The first major tragedy that the Jews of this era experienced was the division of the country into the northern kingdom of ...
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I recently cited Thomas Hobbes in an article that I wrote, and I received criticism for bringing a non-Jewish source in a Torah article. I thought it would be of interest to share my response. In citing the philosopher Thomas Hobbes I was actually following an ancient practice which recognizes that there is indeed “wisdom amongst the nations” (Midrash Eicha Rabba 2:17) and following the Rambam’s exhortation to “hear the truth ...
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I confess that we in the Becher home are coffee fanatics. We only buy recently roasted beans, grind them in a ceramic grinder, make pour-over coffee using only non-bleached paper filters and do not pollute the coffee with sugar or chas v’shalom, artificial sweeteners and other toxic waste. We recently acquired a cold brew coffee tower, which drips cold water through ground coffee for six hours and produces one of ...
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