חוֹקֵר כְּלָיוֹת חָטָאנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ רַחֵם עָלֵינוּ You, Examiner of Kidneys, we have sinned before you, have compassion upon us! from the Selikhot prayers of the Edot haMizrakhi, the Jews of the Middle East This week our parashat hashavua is BeHar Sinai, “on Mt Sinai.” It seems jarring to us and strange to see this reference to Mt Sinai longContinue reading “Shabbat BeHar Sinai: What do kidneys have to do with Sinai?”
Tag Archives: Sefer Yetzirah
Shabbat B’Haalot’kha: What the Light Reveals
The parashat hashavua (Torah parashah for the week) begins with G-d’s command to the High Priest, Moshe’s brother Aharon: “When you raise [b’haalot’kha] light in the lamps, they shall be lit so as to illuminate the face of the menorah” (Numbers 8:2). If you remember that this was a menorah not of candles but of oil lamps, shaped asContinue reading “Shabbat B’Haalot’kha: What the Light Reveals”