You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly. Exodus 27:20 Unlike all the other materials itemized for the construction of the Mishkan which were a one-time donation, the requirement here is an ongoing obligation. A very specific kind of material must be used for Continue Reading »
…the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and charge them to sanctify themselves today and tomorrow. Let them wash their clothes. Sh’mot / Exodus 19:10 The Mekhilta1 comments upon this verse: There are tomorrows that are only in the future. In a collection of teachings by Gerer rabbis they expand upon the Mekhilta Continue Reading »
…This is my God and I will enshrine Him; New Jewish Publication Society Translation …This is my God and I will glorify Him; Old Jewish Publication Society Translation Sh’mot / Exodus 15:2 The difference between the two translations of this phrase from the Song at the Sea exists within the writings of our medieval biblical Continue Reading »
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst.” Continue Reading »
But [Moshe] said, “Please, O Lord, make someone else Your agent.” Exodus 4:13 Moshe finds himself at the top of Horeb, drawn there by the mystery of the burning bush that was ablaze but not consumed by the flames. God speaks to Moshe as the same God who spoke with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Continue Reading »
“The God in whose ways my fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd from my birth to this day —” Continue Reading »
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come forward to me.” And when they came forward, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, he whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be distressed (sad) or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you. Continue Reading »
And when all the land of Egypt felt the hunger, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he tells you, you shall do.” Breysheet/Genesis 41:55 They said to one another, “Alas, we are being punished on account of our brother, because we Continue Reading »
On Chanukah 1897, four months after the conclusion of the First Zionist Congress, an article penned by Theodore Herzl, entitled, “The Menorah,” appeared in Die Welt, the Zionist newspaper he had founded earlier that year. Herzl begins the article as a fable and writes in the third person. “The eighth night arrived, when all the Continue Reading »
My phone recently highlighted a photo memory of my son Yonatan playing on the University of Vermont’s Roller Hockey team, a team which travelled to participate in tournaments against other colleges. The photo was from a tournament wherein they played a team from Yeshiva University and reminded me of an amusing encounter which took place Continue Reading »
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