By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah, Congregant This week’s Torah parsha, Emor, begins with God saying to Moses: “Speak to the Kohanim, and say that none of them can become defiled, impure, or ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person, unless the one who died is a wife or a blood relative”(1). The requisite for […]
Posts in the A ‘Bissel’ of Torah category:
A weekly dvar Torah from our wonderful Joy Scott.
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: KEDOSHIM (LEVITICUS 19:1-20:27)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week’s Torah parsha, Kedoshim, begins with the momentous call: “You shall be holy because I, the Lord, your God am holy”(1). This statement is followed by repetition of dozens of ‘Divine’ commandments, which would enable the Israelites to consecrate their holy relationship with God. This parsha is […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: ACHAREI MOT (LEVITICUS 16:1-18:30)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week, we read Acharei Mot, which has the primary focus of the ancient rituals of Yom Kippur, the ‘Day of Atonement’. During the period of the Mishnah (i.e. the first major redaction of the Oral Torah) in the second century, the Jewish calendar was altered so that the […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: TAZRIA-METZORA (LEVITICUS 12:1-15:33)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week, we read a double Parshiot (TAZRIA), followed by Parsha (METZORA). Each of these Parshiot describe in punctilious detail, the bewildering phenomenon of ‘TZARAAT’. In effect, this is a physical manifestation of a spiritual malaise, frequently mistranslated as ‘leprosy’. An individual afflicted with ‘TZARAAT’, would be referred […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: SHEMINI (LEVITICUS 9:1-11:47)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant For several weeks and many chapters – the longest prelude in the Torah – we have read of the preparations for the moment at which God would bring His Presence to rest amid the people. Five Torah parshiot (Teruma, Tetzaveh, Ki Tisa, Vayakhel, and Pekudi) all describe the […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: TZAV (LEVITICUS 6:1-8:36)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant The primary theme of last week’s Torah parsha, Vayikra, pertained to the five diverse sacrifices which the Israelites presented at the Sanctuary. On the surface, this week’s parsha, Tzav, appears to be merely an extension of Vayikra, differentiated solely by the focus shifting to the kohanim, who were […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: VAYIKRA (LEVITICUS 1:1-5:26)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week’s Torah parsha, Vayikra, is the first in the Book of Leviticus, known formally as ‘Torat Kohanim’ (Instructions for the Priests) (1). The title, Vayikra, defines the entire Book of Leviticus: “and He called”. We have just completed reading the thrilling and dramatic story of the Book […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: PEKUDEI (EXODUS 38:21-40-38)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant Pekudei is the last chapter in the Book of Exodus. For the fourth time, as in parshiot Tetzaveh, Terumah and Vayakhel, we again read a tedious repetition of the inventory of all the equipment used in the building and decorating of the Sanctuary: “These are the records of […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: VAYAKHEL (EXODUS 35:1 – 38:20)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week, we read parsha Vayakhel, which is replete with contradictions and multiple interpretations. The first enigma is the question of why it exists at all. In both parshiot Terumah and Tetzaveh, we read descriptions of every one of the Sanctuary’s dozens of components, as dictated by God […]
A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: KI TISA (EXODUS 30:11-34:35)
By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week’s Torah parsha, Ki Tisa, begins on Mount Sinai, where God is relating to Moses some rather benign instructions pertaining to the final particulars to complete the Holy Sanctuary. It is expected that Moses will remain at the top of the mountain for another forty days. Here, […]