Open Search form

Parsha ACHAREI MOT

Apply for a Blog

William Hamilton

May 6, 2017, 12:07 AM

Israel: Jewish life’s change-agent

Two thousand years ago Jewish life underwent revolutionary change in response to exile from our homeland. Dynastic leadership was democratized as priests gave way to rabbinic sages. Temple-centered offerings were replaced by local prayer communities. The Pascal offering was...

May 4, 2017, 3:18 PM

Holiness in our generation (Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim)

What does it mean to be holy? In our generation, the emotionally-charged observance of Yom Hazikaron – when we honor the memories of those who have lost their lives defending the State of Israel – provides poignant answers to this...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

May 4, 2017, 6:29 AM

Acharei Mot: Double-Edged Stubbornness

Obstinacy in a bad cause is but constancy in a good. -Sir Thomas Browne One of the highlights of the service of the High Priest in the Temple on Yom Kippur was the unusual sacrifice procedure of the two goats....

Nathan Lopes Cardozo

May 3, 2017, 12:45 PM

Afterthoughts on Yom Ha’atzmaut: The Unchallenged Holiness of the Jew

A Dangerous Claim No word in the Torah is as central to Judaism as the word kedusha (holiness). But no word in the Jewish tradition is as dangerous as this very word. When discussing sexuality, food consumption and general human behavior,...

Ariel Ben Avraham

May 1, 2017, 6:25 PM

Parshat Acharei-Kedoshim: The purpose of the Jewish identity

We seldom reflect on the meaning of certain words that reveal and define our existence and its purpose. Either we take them for granted or simply overlook their reasons and implications, because we tend to understand them according to...

Binyamin Klempner

May 1, 2017, 4:29 PM

Acharei-Kedoshim – Letters of Courage

Dear Chevra, BS”D Our senses, specifically our eyes, are under siege. Eidelkeit, the Jewish traits of embarrassment and shyness, nobility and refinement, are under attack. The world would like to see us indulge in the aveiros, the forbidden trespasses, specified...

Ariel Krakowski

May 15, 2016, 8:34 PM

The Plowman meets the Reaper

Background This past Sabbath most synagogues outside of Israel read the haftorah from the end of Amos. This haftorah is so important that we read it instead of the official haftorah for Parshat Kedoshim. Most of Amos rails against the...

May 9, 2016, 9:44 PM

Defying the Anti-Semites of Our Day

A few months ago, I told a story about a group of semi-affiliated members of my previous shul in London. We started meeting up once a month for a chat and Sarah's chocolate cake and some beer. And I...

William Hamilton

May 6, 2016, 6:48 PM

Spiritual resistance

The unusual proximity this year of yesterday’s Holocaust Remembrance Day with tomorrow’s 71st anniversary of Germany’s unconditional surrender should not be misunderstood. Although the date for Yom HaShoah was chosen to honor courageous uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, millions of...

May 6, 2016, 11:57 AM

“Spiritual aristocracy:” the legacy of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein ZT”L, one year later

It was no simple feat, but Michael Eisenberg finally mustered the courage to ask Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, zeikher tzaddik le’vrakhah (ZT”L), may the righteous person’s memory be a blessing, a question on halakhah, Jewish law. After months of failed...

Load more