Our parashat hashavua this week brings us back to our regularly scheduled Torah text after two weeks devoted to special Pesakh Torah. We are back to the Book VaYikra, or Leviticus, and expect nothing more or less than the initiation of the mishkan (the sacred space the Israelites created in the wilderness) with the firstContinue reading “Shabbat Shemini: Not Why. How.”
Tag Archives: Mary Douglas
Shabbat Shemini: What’s Kosher and What’s Treyf
This week in parashat Shemini the Torah sets out the law of kashrut, the ancient Israelite guide to good eating. At first glance, you may assume that you will be given a list of what’s kosher and what’s treyf. What’s fascinating is that in all of chapter 11 of the book of Leviticus the word kasher,Continue reading “Shabbat Shemini: What’s Kosher and What’s Treyf”
Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: Time Out
This week’s double parashah reflects a fundamental understanding of ancient Israelite religion – and we are not sure that we know what it is. Between parashat Tazria and parashat Metzora, we are presented for four solid chapters of VaYikra (Leviticus) with rules of what anthropologist Mary Douglas called “purity and danger” in her book of theContinue reading “Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: Time Out”
Shabbat Tazria 5774: Watch For Rot
Our parashat hashavua (“reading of the week”) is one of the more misunderstood of the entire Torah. It seems to be entirely too consumed with concern regarding the appearance of discolorations on a person’s skin or hair. The first verse of our reading this year, the third of the Triennial Cycle, begins: When a man orContinue reading “Shabbat Tazria 5774: Watch For Rot”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 