The LORD commands Aaron and his sons not to give holy food to outsiders. Yeshua alludes to this passage by forbidding his disciples to give what is holy to dogs or throw it to the pigs. What does this mean and how can we apply it? Read more in the 5 Minute Torah commentary on Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10).
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 Posted May 18, 2018 - 8:04am
Disciples of MosesParashat Bamidbar begins our study of the book of Numbers. Chapter one starts off with the LORD’s command to take a census of the males among the Children of Israel who are of the age to go into battle. Every male twenty years old and older was to be counted. The Torah then lists out the census results according to each tribe. In chapter two, after giving the results of the census, the LORD gives Moses instructions for how the Children of Israel would both encamp and how they would travel. The Tabernacle and the Levites would be surrounded by the entire army of Israel. The tribal legions would be a buffer of protection for both the priestly tribe and also the holy house in the event of a military engagement. Chapter three, however, begins entirely different:
Chapters three and four of the book of Numbers cover the responsibilities of the Levites for packing up and transporting the Tabernacle and its furnishings when traveling. However, the Torah introduces this topic in a unique manner. It begins by saying, “These are the generations of Aaron and Moses.” In the original Hebrew, the word for generations is toldot. As we have discussed previously, the primary meaning of the word toldot is offspring. But if this is the case, why does the Torah only discuss the sons of Aaron and is completely silent regarding the offspring of Moses? |
 Posted May 11, 2018 - 11:12am
The Rejection of IsraelThe double portion of Behar-Bechukotai is the last reading in the book of Leviticus. And although the bulk of the book of Leviticus deals with laws of the sacrificial system and the inauguration of the levitical duties, it ends on quite a different tone. Parashat Bechukotai begins with a reminder that if the Children of Israel heed Hashem’s instructions and obey His commandments, they will be blessed. It begins, “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,” and is followed by a list of things that will happen as a result of their obedience. However, immediately following is a stern warning of what will happen if they refuse to obey his Torah and walk in His ways. This list of curses is nearly three times as long as the blessings for obedience. When reading this list of afflictions that will come upon the Israelites, it seems that God will be angry enough to wipe them off the face of the earth entirely. He tells them:
This seems to confirm what many within the church believe has happened: God has rejected Israel just as He promised. Because of a misunderstanding of Paul’s language in Romans 11, there are entire denominations within Christianity that believe and teach that the Jewish people have been forsaken by God due to their rejection of Yeshua as Messiah. They believe that the Jewish people are no longer the true people of God, and that they have been displaced by a “truer” people of God, namely Christians. But is this really what Paul meant? If so, this would contradict what the LORD had already promised in the Torah: |
 Posted May 4, 2018 - 7:11am
The Relative Nearest HimParashat Emor begins with a problematic passage. Through Moses, God gives instructions to the priesthood prohibiting them from becoming ritually impure through corpse contamination. There are exceptions to this rule, however, and the Torah gives a list of close relatives by which a priest may allow himself to become ritually impure. This could be through either attending to the body of the deceased or merely attending their funeral, either of which would bring with it ritual contamination:
In this passage we learn that a priest may attend to the body of six different family members: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, or his unmarried sister. However, this list seems incomplete. What about his wife? Is the Torah so insensitive that it does not allow a priest to attend the funeral of his own wife? Even though she is not literally related to him as the others in this list are, shouldn’t the Torah make an exception for his beloved wife? |
 Posted April 27, 2018 - 8:30am
The Four ProhibitionsAfter detailing the instructions for the Yom Kippur service, the parashot of Acharei Mot and Kedoshim then hit a series of seemingly unrelated topics concerning a number of different things. For the contemporary reader, particularly to those of us from among the nations, these strange regulations seem completely out of the realm our modern lives. Outside of the obvious ethical principles of forbidden sexual relationships, what possible relevance do these seemingly antiquated ritual concerns have for us today? In the days of the Apostles, something happened that had really never happened before, especially on the scale that the Apostles began to see. Because of the message of Yeshua going forth to the nations, particularly due to the ministry of the Apostle Paul, Gentiles began flocking to Judaism by the droves. Although this was a Yeshua-centric form of Judaism, nonetheless, it was an expression of Judaism that still found its identity in the Torah, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and in the local synagogues. It was expressly Jewish. Now, however, a great number of Gentiles had begun attaching themselves to the God of Israel through faith in the Jewish Messiah. Prior to this point of time, Gentiles who came near to the God of Israel were expected to undergo a formal conversion to become Jewish in order to complete their journey of faith. After all, how does a person explain that their religion is Jewish if they are not? In Acts 15, the Apostles wrestled through this identity crisis for Gentile disciples of Yeshua. Did these Gentiles need to fully convert and become Jewish in order to be a part of this Jewish religion or not? They definitely could not remain like they were, because the pagan practices of their previous lives would surely lure them away from the new life they had found in Messiah. |
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The Magerman Edition
Publisher: Koren Publishers
Year: 2014
The Koren Ani Tefilla Siddur is one of the latest in Koren’s growing collection of siddurim (prayer books) geared towards a specific demographic. Koren describes Ani Tefilla as “an engaging and thought-provoking siddur for the inquiring high school student and thoughtful adult.” Koren says that Ani Tefillah has been developed in order “to help the user create their own meaning and connection during the Tefilla [prayer] experience.” The name of the siddur is connected with its objective. Ani Tefilla means “I pray.”
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