sst1924 / Deuteronomy, Torah /
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Eikev and is found in Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25. In this parasha, Moses reiterates to the people that if they obey the commandments, God will reward them. With God’s help, they will destroy the Canaanite nations, paying particular attention to wiping out all their idols. Moses calls on the Israelites to remember […]
sst1924 / Deuteronomy, Torah /
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Va’etchanan and is found in Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11. In this parasha, Moses continues his speech to the people, giving them the first of several exhortations in this parasha about the importance of obeying God’s commandments, with particular emphasis on the prohibition of idolatry. Moses again exhorts the people to study […]
sst1924 / Deuteronomy, Torah /
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Devarim and is found in Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22. In this parasha we begin the book of Deuteronomy, or Devarim which, in Hebrew, means “words”. In Numbers or Bamidbar (“in the wilderness”), we end with the people getting ready to enter the land of Israel. They pause at the border where Moses will not be crossing over […]
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Matot-Masei and is found in Numbers 30:2-36:13. This Torah portion first talks about vows made by women (vows made by men were addressed in an earlier parasha). If a woman makes a vow but her father (while she is living at home and too young to leave) or her husband forbids […]
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Pinchas and is found in Numbers 25:10-30:1. In this passage, we have two primary stories. In the first, Midianite women have entered the Israelite community to encourage the men to engage in idol worship and related sexual practices. God responds by sending a plague upon the people. Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron, stops […]
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Balak and is found in Numbers 22:2-25:9. In this passage, Balak, the king of Moab, sees that the Israelites have defeated the neighboring Amorites and he is afraid. He joins forces with the Midianites to hire the prophet Balaam, asking him to curse the Israelites to insure their defeat. God tells Balaam […]
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Chukat and is found in Numbers 19:1-22:1. In this passage, the people continue to struggle with wilderness living. Miriam dies along the way and is buried in Kadesh. Soon after, the people again complain about a lack of water. Specifically, their complaint is that they should have died when Korach […]
sst1924 / Uncategorized /
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Korach and is found in Numbers 16:1-18:32. In this parasha, Korach and his followers challenge the authority of Moses and Aaron – and indeed of God Himself– by claiming that Moses is giving himself special status and raising himself above the people. Datan and Aviram, members of Korach’s faction, challenge […]
The Torah portion, or parasha, this week is Sh’lach (sometimes called Sh’lach L’cha) and is found in Numbers 13:1-15:41. In this parasha, Moses sends twelve spies, one from each tribe, to scout the land of Canaan and bring back a report of the conditions the Israelites will find there. After forty days the spies return, bringing their […]
The Torah portion, or parasha, is Nasso and is found in Numbers 4:21-7:89. The passage contains several events. First, Moses finishes the census of the Levite families and everyone is given instructions on their responsibilities to temple service. The next section talks about how people who have committed crimes, are suspected of adultery, or have made a vow […]