Moses
- 5784, Aaron, Altar of Incense, Anointing, Exodus, Ki Tisa, Menorah, Messiah, Moses, Offering, Oil, Parsha, Priests, Shemot, Spices, Tabernacle, Tent of Meeting, Worship, משיח, שמן
The Spices of משיח
The sensory event of the Tent of Meeting and service therein continues in this week’s parsha, Ki Tisa. From the fashion and ringing sounds of the priestly garments (as well as the fabric, metal,…
- 5784, Aaron, Banquet, Elders, Exodus, Feet, Food and Drink, Isaiah, Leaders, Mishpatim, Mitzvah, Moses, Parsha, Physical Presence, Rules, Sapphire, Shemot, Sinai, Splendor, Torah
Approaching the Divine
Parashat Mishpatim is full of rules, including those that leave the Hebrew people with timeless principles as well as situational directions that seem specific to a certain lifestyle. Indeed, many of the injunctions which…
- 5784, Advice, Delegation, Exodus, Greeting, Jacob, Jethro, Judges, Laban, Leaders, Matriarchs, Moses, Parsha, Rachel, Relationship, Rulers, Shemot, Tzipporah, Yitro
Greetings…
I’ve been reading about greetings in the Bible recently – in particular, a long discussion in The Lost Matriarch (Jerry Rabow) about Jacob’s greeting of Rachel, then Laban. In Parashat Yitro, the simplicity and…
- 5784, Aaron, Battle, Beshalach, Egypt, Exodus, Fear, Midbar, Miriam, Moses, Music, Parsha, Pharaoh, Philistines, Red Sea, Shemot, Songs, War, Wilderness
Fear of Battle, Praise of Miracles
At a time when we again feel the emotions of watching war, fighting, death, fear, loss of home and land, the first two verses of Parashat Beshalach resounded with me. וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒…
- 5784, Aaron, Bo, Death, Egypt, Exodus, Hardened, Moses, Parsha, Passover, Pesach, Pharaoh, Plagues, Power, Promises, Protection, Redemption, Shemot, Threats
Death Threats
As Moshe and Aaron continued to encounter Pharaoh and negotiate the freedom of the Hebrew slaves, death hung in the air, actualized through certain plagues (even before the last sign). Parashat Bo continues to…
- 5784, Aaron, Bo, Egypt, Exodus, Ibn Ezra, Judges, Midrash, Moses, Parsha, Pharaoh, Plagues, Prophet, Rashi, Shemot, Vaera, Voice
How to be אלהים…
As G!d continued to guide Moshe and share what would be involved in being an agent of redemption from slavery for the Hebrew people in parashat Vaera, G!d stated at the beginning of chapter…
- 5784, Aaron, Burning Bush, Egypt, Exodus, Freedom, I Am Who I Am, Jacob, Levites, Midian, Miriam, Moses, Names, Parsha, Pharaoh, Shemot, Slavery, Tzipporah, Voice
Placing Names, Naming Places
And so Shemot/Exodus, in the parsha (Shemot) of the same name, begins as our last parsha of Genesis/Bereshit ended: walking us through the generations (by names, literally שמות) of Jacob’s descendants. The missing…
- 5783, 5784, Bereshit, Brooklyn, Creativity, Deuteronomy, Devarim, Flood, Genesis, High Holidays, Moses, Parsha, Pharaoh, Rain, Repentance, Rosh Hoshannah, Simchat Torah, Sukkot, Torah, Yom Kippur
Brooklyn’s River of Joy, Sorrow, & Everything in Between
This season of the year’s turning, I’ve reflected a lot on the changes during 5783 and how to step forward into 5784. Through the contemplative space provided by Malkhut during Rosh Hashanah and…
- Deuteronomy, Devarim, Dissertation, Judges, Kings, Messiah, Moses, Parsha, Priests, Prophet, Redemption, Sacrifice, Shoftim
Prophets, Priests, & Kings
Shoftim has it all…every popular messiah-type, that is! After declaring how the shared responsibility of community judgment should be directed, along with an all-too-familiar helping of laws to keep the community pure, the…
- Aaron, Bamidbar, Brooklyn, Egypt, Exodus, Forgiveness, Lamentations, Masei, Matot, Miriam, Moses, Numbers, Parsha, Priests, Slavery, Tisha B'Av, Voice
What’s in a Voice?
Last week, I gave the D’var Torah on the double parsha Matot-Masei for Shir HaMa’alot, an independent minyan/chavurah in Brooklyn. The main text follows. ********* Some of you may remember that in last…
