Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, the Founding Director of NCSY presents a special message for Pesach during the NCSY@60 anniversary year. Drawing on the mysteries of Lag B’Omer and the meaning of Vehi She’Amda, a passage from the Haggadah which marvels that the Covenant between HaShem and the Jewish people has endured through the generations as countless
Rabbi Gideon Black of JLIC at New York University examines two verses from Parshat Acharei Mot that make it clear that just as much as Moses had to save the Jewish people from the grasp of Pharaoh, he also had to convince those who only desired a settled life in Egyptian society not to become
Parshat Metzorah expands on last week’s portion and presents the story of a person who spoke badly about someone else, and was hit with mysterious spots on their body, their clothes and even their house. Although this seems unlikely to us now, Rabbi Yehoshua Kohl, Regional Director of NY NCSY, explains the spiritual dimensions and
This week’s parsha introduces the complex concept of Tumah v’Taharah — impurity and purity. Rabbi Lashak, Regional Director of Southwest NCSY and Euro ICE, probes this tricky topic with a story where a heroic individual faces down a pack of hungry lions. Find out how it ends! Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myNCSYAlumni Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ncsyalumni
This week we read about the “eighth day”, yom ha’shemini, which was the inaugural day of the Mishkan. The commentators explain that this day is the first day of Nissan, one year after the Exodus. We read about all of the specific services that Aaron and his sons were commanded to do in order to kick-off the future of all services in the Mishkan. This entire episode is actually quite strange. This is because this “eighth day” that is being celebrated was already recorded in a previous part of the Torah. In the last section of Parshat Pekudei (Exodus 40) we already read about the inauguration of the Mishkan! The entire latter half of the Book of Exodus all culminated towards the final goal of God’s Presence filling the Mishkan, which is recorded in the last verses of Pekudei (40:34-38). And all of that happened on the first of Nissan, the exact same day as our “eighth day.” Why do we repeat it here? Furthermore, this event is actually described a third time in the Torah, in the Book of Numbers. In the Parsha...
Many of the rules outlined in the Torah help us navigate the maze of life and pertain to pleasure, especially regarding food. These are the ones that are easiest to over-do! The rules in Parshat Shemini act as an instruction manual to help us live pleasurably but also prudently, and Rabbi Phil Karesh, Educational Coordinator
What is so important about this passage that it is the only one required by Torah law to be read publically every year? Why does this reading have to be done the Shabbat before the holiday of Purim? What exactly does the nation of Amalek mean for us today? In order to understand the answers to these questions, we must first examine Parshat Zachor a little bit more carefully.
In this week’s Torah portion we are given the details of the various sacrifices given in the Temple. While last the commandments regarding the sacrifices were more general, and addressed to the people as a whole, this week the commandments are a lot more specific, and are addressed specifically to the Kohanim (Priests).
It was a truly fateful day when King Achashverosh couldn’t fall sleep… At the pinnacle of peril in Megillat Esther, the story of Purim, megillah readers briefly switch to the melody of Yom Kippur. Why is this? Rabbi Greenland, International Director of NCSY, explains that by looking at Jewish history not as timeline, but more
This week’s Torah portion deals with sacrificial laws, which are very complicated and constitute an entire Seder (~1/6th) of the Talmud. It is easy to get lost in the details which can seem irrelevant to our current lives, and to blow off learning the entire Book of Va’Yikra. For the next couple months we will be discussing this book, and I want to go on the journey with all of you in trying to find the lessons that are hidden amongst the detailed laws that can seem rather dull at first glance. There is one main distinction that is made between different types of sacrifices in this week’s reading: voluntary vs. obligatory sacrifices. Among the obligatory sacrifices are the offerings given for atonement, for sins committed unintentionally.