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Parashat B'haalot'cha takes up the issue of the perils of materialism that Rabbinic interpreters found implicit in a verse from last week's portion, Numbers 6:24, "The Eternal bless you [with possessions] and protect you [from your possessions possessing you]." An incident occurring in t

From the time of the wilderness wanderings, the Levites formed an important part of the Israelite socio-economic structure.

Way back in July 1990, when my daughter Katie was two years old, Ellen turned to our little girl and said, "Tell Daddy something he doesn't know." Katie whispered, smiling shyly, "Today is Mommy's birthday." Can you say doghouse?

The point of being Jewish is to have a relationship with God. Yet, a relationship implies a certain give and take, and there is precious little in the Torah that talks about what we have that God could possibly need. What can we give to God?

At the end of Parashat Emor, a disturbing incident is related. In the heat of a fight, a man curses God and is stoned to death for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-23). It is understandable that readers may be repulsed by this narrative, and shocked and angry to find it in the Torah.

The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are My fixed times, the fixed times of the Eternal, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions."

-Leviticus 23:1-2

Our congregation's sukah was blown down by the wind last year, just after the beginning of the Sukot festival. The cause was one of those freak storms that tear up trees, down power lines, and destroy sukot.

Like a giant tent spread atop three tall pillars that support it and give it shape, the Jewish year is held up by the Shalosh R'galim, the "three pilgrimage festivals" Pesach commemorates the joy of liberation and freedom, Shavuot acknowledges the power of God's word reveale

That was for the Eternal a night of vigil [leil shimurim] to bring them out of the land of Egypt; that same night is the Eternal's, one of vigil for all the children of Israel throughout the ages. Exodus 12:42