by Rabbi Guido Cohen Asociación Israelita Montefiore – Bogotá, Colombia After reading last week about the golden calf, this week in Parashot Vayahkel and Pekudei, we see the other side of the coin, the construction of the Mishkan. It was sanctuary that, according to the sages, was meant to expiate for the transgression of the …
Bemidvar – Numbers 30:2 – 36:13 Rabbi Joshua Kullock Kol Hakehila Guadalajara, México One of the subjects most interesting to our tradition is speech and its effects. Unlike those who support a vision of language as a tool to describe reality, in Judaism language is understood as the creator of reality. God creates the world through speech, …
Bemidvar –Nmmbers 25:10-30:1 Rabbi Mario Gurevich Beth Israel Synagogue – Aruba Almost forty years since the departure from Egypt. The people have definitely changed. They are no longer the freed slaves who clamored for food, moaned for water, and prayed to return to Egypt. This generation, born in the wilderness, is hardened, strong, aware of …
God does not choose for us Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica Balak, king of Moab, fears the advance of the people of Israel. He knows that Israel has had several military triumphs in the wilderness, and does not wish to be the next defeated. He understands that he must formulate a plan …
Bemidvar – Numbers 19:1-22:1 Searching for Miriam’s Well In this week’s parashah, among other subjects, appears the death of a great female leader of the people of Israel: the prophetess, Miriam haNeviah. It is written in the text: And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the …
Bemidvar – Numbers 16:1-18:32 In the Middle Ages, there used to be travelling rabbis who passed through small villages and were invited to offer a Divrei Torah (commentary on the Torah reading) before the local congregation. It is said that one of these teachers, who was seemingly not too good a speaker, had prepared the …
Learning from Bad Experiences Numbers 13-15 We all know the Minyan institution, which we usually translate as “quorum”. A minyan is a group of ten Jewish adults necessary to the reading of certain prayers, such as the Kaddish, Kedushah, Barchu, and the Torah reading. The Minyan is one of the most extraordinary institutions of Jewish …
