By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week’s Torah parsha is the final reading in the last of the five Books of the Torah. The Parsha begins with Moses blessing each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Echoing Jacobs’s blessings to his twelve sons, five generations earlier, Moses assigns and empowers each tribe with […]
Author: Jess Mahler
A ‘BISSEL’ OF TORAH: HA’AZINU (DEUTERONOMY 32:1- 32:5)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Every year, either in proximity, or during the ‘Ten Days of Repentance,’ we read the penultimate Torah parsha, Ha’azinu. It is no coincidence that when we are experiencing a heightened sense of spirituality, we are enjoined to hear Moses’ final words to The Children of Israel. For a month, […]
A ‘BISSEL’ OF TORAH: NITZAVIM-VAYELECH (DEUTERONOMY 29:9-31:30)
This week, we read a double parshiot: Nitzavim-Vayelech. After hearing the list of 98 terrifying curses at the end of last week’s parsha, the people were devastated and questioned whether they could possibly withstand such frightful punishments. Moses responded with the opening statement of Nitzavim: “You are all standing this day before the Lord, […]
A ‘BISSEL’ OF TORAH: KI TAVO (DEUTERONOMY 26:1-29:8)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah congregant This week’s parsha, Ki Tavo, begins with instructions from Moses to the Children of Israel. They are directed that on the very day that they cross the Jordan, to create two huge stones on which each word of the Torah will be clearly written. At that point, The Levites […]
A ‘BISSEL’ OF TORAH: KI TEITZEI (DEUTERONOMY 21:10-25:19)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week’s Torah parsha, Ki Teitzei, occurs as the Children of Israel are at the brink of embarking on war with hostile nations, as they tirelessly struggle to reach the ‘Promised Land.’ The parsha comprises seventy-four of the Torah’s six hundred and thirteen commandments. The separate commandments pertaining to […]