Emor for Teens: Shabbat Sha-raps
Change of Name: Change of Status
These days, people alter their names for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are getting married or divorced, they wish to assume a stage name, they want to correct their name, or they simply don't like their name. Some but not all of these cases represent a change in status.
Hospitality: Can We Do Better?
Biblical stories often form prototypical frameworks that define and shape later Jewish behaviors.
The Burdens That Raise Us Up
Focal Point
But to the Kohathites he [Moses] did not give any [gifts]; since theirs was the service of the [most] sacred objects, their porterage was by shoulder. (Numbers 7:9)
D'var Torah
Noah: A Case Study in Transformation
At the beginning of Parashat Noach , it is apparent that the earth and everything living on it are in need of serious transformation. We read: "The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with violence" and ". . .
On the Permanence of Graves
Burying one's dead-what could be a more rudimentary cultural ritual? The scene in which Abraham buys a gravesite from a Hittite for Sarah is often commented upon for the highly stylized negotiation that results in the acquisition.
Rethinking Immigration: Sh'lach L'cha, A Holistic Approach
The story line is as follows: Chieftains from each tribe are sent to the land of Canaan for forty days to find out what kind of country it is and if the inhabitants are strong or weak. Canaan is full of different people, including the Anakites—giants.