Parshas Shemini

Parshas Shemini Note: The Shabbos Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading. 1st & 2nd Aliyot: The Parsha begins on Nissan 1, 2449. The seven-day inauguration of Aharon and…

Parashat Tazria / פרשת תזריע

Tazria From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tazria, Thazria, Thazri’a, Sazria, or Ki Tazria‘ (תַזְרִיעַ — Hebrew for “she conceives”, the 13th word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 27th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the fourth in the book of Leviticus. It…

Wisdom, the Highest Good

THE DUTIES OF THE HEART Wisdom, the Highest Good The supreme benefit, and the highest good bestowed by the Creator on human beings (after the gift of existence and the perfected faculties of perception and intelligence), is Wisdom. This, indeed, is the very life of their spirits. It is the lamp of their reason, which…

Ta’anit Esther / תענית אסתר

The Fast of Esther (Ta’anit Ester, Hebrew: תַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵּר) is a Jewish fast from dawn until dusk on Purim eve, commemorating the three-day fast observed by the Jewish people in the story of Purim. If the date of the Fast of Esther falls on Shabbat (Saturday), the fast is instead observed on the preceding Thursday….

Aramaic Thoughts 8

Aramaic Literature 8  The Mishnah The eleventh treatise in Mo’ed is called Katan (half-feasts). Originally it was called Mashkin, from the first word in the treatise. It deals with the middle days of Passover and Tabernacles, that is, those days between the first two and the last two days of the particular festivals. However, as…

Shabbat Zachor

Shabbat Zachor (“Sabbath [of] remembrance שבת זכור) is the Shabbat immediately preceding Purim. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (at the end of Parasha Ki Teizei), describing the attack by Amalek, is recounted.

Parashat Vayikra / פרשת ויקרא

Note: The Shabbos Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading. 1st & 2nd & 3rd Aliyot: The instructions for offering a “Oleh” – burnt offering (fully consumed on the…

An Aramaic Approach to the Church Epistles

  An Aramaic Approach to the Church Epistles By Karen Masterson   Commentaries and biographies almost unanimously regard the Apostle Paul as a Hellenistic Jew. They regard him as a Jew whose native language was Greek, who thought in terms of Greek ideas and culture. They compare him to men such as Philo, who explained Judaism…

Aramaic Thoughts Part 7

Aramaic Literature – Part 7 – The Mishnah The eighth treatise in Mo’ed is Rosh Hashanah. This literally means “the head of the year,” or “the first of the year,” thus it is the New Year celebration. In our modern calendar, Rosh Hashanah occurs in September. It corresponds to the first day of the seventh…

Rosh Chodesh

Rosh Chodesh is the monthly celebration of the New Moon, according to the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar follows lunar months, each with 29 or 30 days, although the year is solar. Some scholars believe that lunar months derive from ancient nomadic calendars and solar years are the invention of agricultural societies; the Jewish calendar…

Parashat Pekudei / פרשת פקודי

TORAH: PEKUDEI By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum Torah Reading: PEKUDEY Exodus 38:21-40:38. Special Selection: Shabbat Shekalim Exodus 30:11-16. II Kings 12:1-17 (Sephardi ritual: II Kings 11:17-12:17). Rosh Chodesh: Numbers. 28.9-15. A LESSON IN GOOD GOVERNMENT The parshah of PEKUDEY brings the second book of the Torah, Exodus, to an end, concluding the subject of the construction…

Parashat Vayakhel / פרשת ויקהל

Parshas Vayakhel Note: The Shabbos Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading. 1st & 2nd Aliyot: The Parsha begins with the Mitzvah of Shabbos and the penalty for her…