ARZA

By Didi Gilbert Though Parshat T’rumah provides instructions regarding the building of the Mishkan – the Tabernacle and the Aron HaKodesh, the container in which the Torah is to be kept and revered, the lessons to be derived from this parasha are much broader. Moses informs the people that they are each expected to make [...]

By Rabbi Jack Alan Luxemburg Adonai spoke to Moses, saying:  “Go and tell Pharaoh, King of Egypt, to let the Israelites depart from his land.” But Moses appealed to Adonai, saying: “The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, a man of impeded speech!” (Exodus 6:10-12) Rabbi Samuel Mohilever (1824-1898) [...]

By Rabbi Bennett Miller We are in the midst of one of the most powerful episodes in the Torah. The narrative reveals a continuation of the story of Joseph, his brothers, Egypt, and Jacob’s entire family. Few Biblical events have been told with greater human drama.

There is an old Chinese saying: women hold up half the sky. It would seem that, in this world view, women and their contributions to life are of equal importance to those of men. This does not really speak to the nature of those contributions, if they are the same or different efforts, but that [...]

What is Israel like today? Who lives there? What do they look like? What is the country like? Can we make a place in the land, our land given to us by God, even if it means conquering those who are already there? This was the charge of the 12 scouts or spies, one from [...]

By Rabbi Benjie Gruber Two recent Torah portions, Teruma and Tetzaveh, deal with the Mishkan or Tabernacle, the tent/desert Temple/home for God that travelled around the desert for 40 years with the people of Israel. At every stop, it was put together, and as they were leaving to travel on, it was taken apart once [...]

Location Location Location is the mantra of all those involved with real estate and national development.  It was true for Abraham, the first Jew to own property in Israel. God could promise Abraham and the Jewish people the land of Israel but only a person could actually acquire the real estate. Abraham’s first purchase was [...]