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.
Parshat Vayikra opens the third book of Torah by outlining korban, burnt offerings. This week, Rabbi Ari Strulowitz of Midwest NCSY, interprets the wording of the second verse: “a man from AMONG you brings a sacrifice.” While some mitzvot are must-do’s, many others are voluntary, and so perhaps this sacrifice can be considered a voluntary
Now that we have finally reached the end of our journey to set up the Mishkan, and God’s glory has finally rested in cloud-form over the Mishkan, it is time that we take another objective look at the Mishkan. However, I want to point out something that is often overlooked, and is definitely not the main explanation of the preceding series of events. I want to make the claim that the Mishkan is not ideal.
Rabbi Glenn Black, CEO of Canada NCSY shares a midrash about the Vavim in Parshat Pekudei. The word, translated as hooks, only appears once in the parsha, but is an illustration of what keeps our Jewish communities bound together, which is a guiding principal for NCSYers. To learn more about Canada NCSY, visit: http://canada.ncsy.org Connect
Anyone with a skeptical side will ask a very obvious question on this week’s Torah portion: Why are we going through all of the details of the building of the Mishkan a second time? Once could explain that the first time around we were trying to explain difficulty in trying to capture the infinite in a finite space, or alternatively we could explain that the details are simply there to make sure that we are serious about our actions in this world (See Lessons of the Mishkan Parts 1 & 2). However, why would we need to go into the details a second time? Granted that this portion is the story of the actions compared to the previous sections which dealt with the commandments, but this entire Parsha could have been shortened to one sentence: “And the Jews built the Mishkan exactly the way they were told, through the hands of Betzalel and Oholliab" (the two people in charge of construction).
This week’s parsha, Vayakhel, deals with the details of assembling the Mishkan (once again). Rabbi Akiva Naiman, NorCal NCSY and BILT Director, explores how and why the construction of this resting place for G-d, the Tabernacle, is given so much more space in the Torah than the account of Breisheit, the creation of all of
Ari Ziegler, a veteran of JLIC Brooklyn and a Birthright: Israel Free Spirit madrich extraordinaire, examines the leadership that Moses exhibited during the events of the Golden Calf in this week’s parsha, Ki Tisa. During this tricky situation, he must be stern enough to punish them for straying from HaShem but loving enough that they
After several sections in the Torah dealing with intense details about the laws dealing with the Mishkan, the majority of this week’s Torah portion brings a new flavor to the Jewish narrative. This week’s Parsha is mostly dedicated to the sin of the golden calf and Moses’ ensuing “dialogue” with G-d about forgiveness. I would like to key in on an observation usually left unnoticed. There is a phrase used to describe the Jewish people in this section of the Torah that is repeated several times in a small amount of time. The Jews are called a “stiff-necked people”. Colloquially, they are stubborn. The phrase is used by G-d as His leading cause for anger against the Jews. In the 32nd and 33rd chapter of Exodus, G-d uses this phrase with an obvious negative connotation, even threatening to destroy the Jews with this character trait as the primary cause. G-d tells Moses: “I will not go up in your midst since you are a stiff necked people, lest I destroy you on the way."
The robes and vestments of the Kohanim are described in this week’s parsha, Parsha Tetzaveh. Oregon NCSY Director Meira Spivak explains how the most mysterious of these divination tools, the Urim and Thummim, may have functioned and how they can inform our decision-making today. Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myNCSYAlumni Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ncsyalumni
Shira Neuman, the JLIC educator at University of Maryland Hillel, asks if HaShem is everywhere, why do we have to create specific places for prayer? Ramban has an answer: it all began at Sinai. Do you have a Har Sinai Moment? Share below! Learn more about Shira Neuman and JLIC@Maryland: https://www.facebook.com/JLICAtMaryland Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myNCSYAlumni