The Priests of old, had to be in a constant state of ritual purity. So that whenever they were called upon to perform in the Tabernacle or Temple they would be ready. Purity had nothing to do with what we call cleanliness. You might be covered in mud from tip to toe and still be “impure” or more accurately, “unprepared.”…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Festivals
Here the Torah amplifies the function and ceremonial of the festivals that were first mentioned in Exodus. As before all special days are called “Moadim” occasions. And as before the first “holy Day” is Shabbat. Many Jews give priority to festivals over Shabbat. But in fact, in terms of priorities. It ought to be the other way round. After Pesach…
Alienation
There is a sad story this week in the Torah of a young man whose mother was Israelite but whose father was Egyptian. He had been welcomed into the children of Israel based on his mother’s status and left Egypt with them. But when it came to which tribe he belonged to, he did not fit in anywhere. Tribes were…
Cursing
There is a reference in this week’s reading to cursing. The story of the boy who cursed God contains two elements. One is the obvious crime of publicly rejecting, attacking and demeaning God. The other is what do we mean by a curse? The Torah forbids cursing whether it is God, parents, princes, judges or even the deaf. The opposite,…
Good and Bad
We talk about good, moral human beings and about bad, immoral ones. But how does one become a good, moral person? Is it what society expects or private decision making? Either way why do we need Torah? Nowadays many people argue that our genes decide for us whether we are “good” or “bad.” The trouble is that if you are…
Jewish Morality
This week’s reading, according to the Midrash was delivered publicly and specifically to the Children of Israel as a group, because “most of the important principles of the Torah can be found here.” When one looks at the text one can see why this is so. For example, love you neighbor as yourself. Do not hate your neighbor. Do not…