Why Do We Eat Dairy Foods on Shavuot?
The custom to eat dairy on Shavuot is widely observed, but it is rooted in serious halakhic and symbolic ideas, not just in our love of cheesecake. The classic halakhic […]
Bamidbar: Turning Numbers into a Nation
The English name of the fourth book of the Torah, “Numbers,” suggests a dry accounting project: lists, totals, statistics. In Hebrew, though, the book is called Bamidbar—“In the Wilderness”—a […]
God’s Calendar, Our Lives: Why the Torah Repeats the Holidays Again and Again
Many of us secretly wish the Torah were a little more concise. Why repeat the same lists over and over? Yet when it comes to the holidays, the Torah […]
From Isolation to Return: Tazria & Metzora and the Path Home
Tazria–Metzora is one of the hardest portions in the Torah to relate to our lives. It deals with strange skin afflictions, bodily processes, and a complex system of purity […]
Holy Eating: What ‘Kadosh’ Really Means
This week’s Parasha, Shmini, describes one of the most intimate ways God shapes a people: not only through revelation at the entrance to the Mishkan, but also through the […]
From Exodus to Altar: The Journey of Matza
On Pesach, matza is the bread of being taken out of Egypt; in Leviticus, matza is the bread of coming close to God. The same simple, unleavened bread quietly […]
Who Are the Four Sons at Your Seder Table?
On Pesach, matza is the bread of being taken out of Egypt; in Vayikra, matza is the bread of coming close to God. The same simple, unleavened bread quietly holds […]
How do I kasher a glass stovetop for Passover
Almost all electric and induction stovetops today are made from glass. How can I kasher this for Passover? Glass can be kashered easily by washing it with soap and water […]
The Fragrance of Avodah: Re-aḥ Niḥoaḥ La‑Adonai
I have always been fascinated by the phrase רֵיחַ נִיחוֹחַ לַיהוָה , “a pleasing odor to God” which appears for the first time in our parasha (Leviticus 1:9). The phrase […]
Pour Out Your Rage? Reading Shfokh Hamatkha Without Turning It into a Weapon
Each year at the seder, just when the mood should be moving steadily toward gratitude and praise, we do something strange. We pour the fourth cup of wine, open […]