This book covers the forty years that the Children of Israel spent in the wilderness until the old generation died out and a new one was ready to march into the land. It starts with all the pomp of organizing the Israelites into units and subdivisions, administered by its hierarchies, given their positions and marching orders in preparation for the…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Charlie Gard and Life
You may have read about the battle in London over the final days of life for a baby called Charlie Gard. He was born with a form of mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome that causes increasing muscle weakness and brain damage. There is no known cure. The doctors in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London diagnosed this fatal condition. They put…
Warnings, rebukes
The last Parsha of the Book of Vayikra is one of two examples of a brief promise of good things if we obey God followed by a long dire warning of what will happen if we disobey. To us it seems strange that the Torah goes into such a lengthy litany of horrible things that will befall us. Did God…
Herem
Towards the end of this week’s double portion of the Torah there is a reference to the word Herem. Most people think of Herem as the Jewish equivalent of excommunication, banning someone from the community. The most famous and highly controversial example was Spinoza (1632-1677), the brilliant and ethical Dutch philosopher descended from Spanish Jews. He rejected Judaism and challenged…
Self Valuation
The book of Vayikra ends with the various ways one can make gifts to the Tabernacle, Temple. These include self-valuations. I donate my value on the open market to the Temple. Obviously some preferred to give this monetary equivalent rather than animals or birds. When new look at the Torah we might find the valuations difficult to understand. A male…
Sabbaticals
It is strange that the Torah specifically says that these commands it now gives about Sabbaticals and the Jubilee were given on Sinai. Weren’t all the laws supposed to have been given on Sinai? Rashi quotes the Midrash that says that it simply reiterates the fact that Sinai was the source of everything. But it does seem strange that this…