Dan Has Questions About Holidays, Punishments, And Fairness: Parshat Emor
05/12/2022 09:11:17 AM
This week's Parshah, Emor, is chochablock with topics - think of this as the fireworks finale to ends this year of Junior Congregation discussion questions!
Emor means "speak", and the Parshah begins with God telling Moses to speak to the priests about the special standards by which they must live, to keep themselves...Read more...
Dan Has Questions About Holiness and Perfection: Parshat Kedoshim
05/05/2022 09:52:24 AM
This week's Parshah is Kedoshim, which literally means "Holy" (in the plural case). This section of the Torah is known as the "Holiness Code", and it starts with God telling Moses to tell us that "You shall be holy, for I am holy". Look up "holy" in your thesaurus and you will find a long, long list of synonyms, from "righteous"...Read more...
Dan Has Questions About - Goats? Parshat Acharei Mot
04/28/2022 08:30:13 AM
With Passover now over, we return to our regular weekly Torah portions with Acharei Mot, "after the death". This refers to the death of Aaron's sons after they brought "strange fire" into the Mishkan (Tabernacle), as we talked about a couple of weeks ago.The Parshah begins with instructions to Aaron about when he can enter the...Read more...
Dan Has Questions About Fractions, Holidays, and Freedom
04/20/2022 02:42:43 PM
Shabbat shalom and chag sameach. This shabbat is the last day of Pesach, and let us not "pass over" it too quickly! Whenever a yom-tov and shabbat coincide, we have a special Torah ready instead pf the usual weekly parshah, relevant to the holiday in question. Passover is one of the three "pilgrimage" holidays.
- What is a...Read more...
Dan Has Questions About Ancient Medical Practices, and The Passage Of Time: Parshat Tazria and Rosh Chodesh Nisan
03/31/2022 09:30:42 AM
This week we read Parshat Tazria, and several special Rosh Chodesh readings as well (more on that later). Tazria means "pregnant", and the parshah is mainly concerned with sickness, wellness, and assorted physical conditions and what to do whenthey occur.
The overarching theme that continues form last week is...Read more...