by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Apr 7, 2016 | Lifeline
Our Torah reading begins this week with laws regarding purity after giving birth, after a woman brings a new life into the world. We will also celebrate Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of a new Jewish month. The word for month itself, Chodesh, shares the root of Chadash,...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Mar 31, 2016 | Lifeline
In this week’s reading, we learn of the deaths of the two eldest sons of Aharon HaKohen, the High Priest. “And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, each took his censer, and put fire in them, and put incense on each, and brought before G-d a strange fire,...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Mar 18, 2016 | Lifeline
This week’s reading begins the third book of the Torah, VaYikra, or Leviticus. The word VaYikra means “called,” as in G-d Calling to Moshe. Looking at the text, we find that the aleph, the letter at the end of VaYikra, is written in small text. Rashi...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Mar 11, 2016 | Lifeline
This week, Rabbi Mordechai Dixler, our program director, shared with me a collection of Torah thoughts and concepts from Rav Avraham Elimelech Biderman of Bnei Brak, Israel. In a few short paragraphs Rav Biderman tied together our reading (Pikudei, the last portion in...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Feb 25, 2016 | Lifeline
In this week’s reading, G-d instructs Moses to make the anointing oil, describing its composition. He tells Moshe to anoint the holy items and vessels, and the Kohanim Gedolim (High Priests) of future generations. (Kings from the House of David were also...
