The Importance of Having Ways to Reintegrate to the Community B”H Rabbi Daniela Szuster This week’s parashah, Parashat Metzora, deals mainly with the rules concerning Tzaraat, leprosy, and describes the ritual of purifying and reintegrating the person who was ill with that disease back into the society. A Metzora is the person afflicted with a
Our Responsibilities to Our Children By Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky This week we read parashat Tazria. Among others mitzvot, we find in this Torah section the commandment of Brit Milah, the ritual circumcision. Although this mitzvah had already been conveyed to Abraham in the Book of Genesis, the sages explain that it is repeated here in
Silence as a Path to Heal our Souls B”H Rabbi Daniela Szuster In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Sh’mini, we read about an immense tragedy that befell Aaron. Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, brought an unauthorized offering. Consequently, they were slain by a fire that issued forth from heaven. We are told that when
You Can’t Please Everyone By Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky This week we celebrate Purim, so I would like to say a few words about it. One of the most important laws of Purim is the reading of the Megillah, the Scroll of Esther. Thinking about the main characters of the book, Mordechai appears like a beloved
Rituals are a Meaningful and Powerful way to Express our Deep Feelings B”H Rabbi Daniela Szuster This Shabbat we are beginning to read the third book of the Torah, the book of Vayikra, also called “Torat Cohanim”: Torah, laws of the Cohanim. This name is because much of the book contains a guide to the
Where Do We Find Holiness? By Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky This week we read parashat Pekudei, the last Torah section of the Book of Exodus. The first verse of this parasha says, “These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony/Pact, which were drawn up at Moses’ bidding—the work of the Levites under
