Shabbat Emor: Why Bother?

“You shall not cause My holy Name to be hollowed out and meaningless.”  (Lev.22.32) This mitzvah from the parashat hashavua may seem obscure, especially when it is translated in the traditional way: “profaned.” But it’s actually a very relevant concept. A Jew causes the Name to be “profaned,” i.e. meaningless, when that Jew who is knownContinue reading “Shabbat Emor: Why Bother?”

Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: The Goal of Torah Study

This week’s parashah is once again a double: Akharei Mot, “after death” and Kedoshim, “set apart”, which is what “holy” means in Jewish religious culture.  Because every couple of years these two parashot occur as a double (meaning that we read at least a third of them both), it was only natural that our inquisitive andContinue reading “Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: The Goal of Torah Study”