Posts Tagged: Vayikra
How a Hebrew Letter Can Teach Us the Lasting Power of Humility
The great Hasidic master, Rav Nachman of Breslov, famously said, "If you believe you can break something, believe you can fix it." A Hasidic wag later...
Giving to Others Gives Our Life Meaning
Earlier this week, I read that Barbara Rickles had died at the age of 84. Her late husband, Don — who passed away in 2017,...
Anyone Who Mistreats Other Human Beings Is Not a Pious or Religious Jew
Sacrifices, the subject of this week’s parsha, were central to the religious life of Biblical Israel. We see this not only by the sheer space...
The Torah Requires Holding Leaders Accountable
In a Washington Post interview this past Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed unequivocally that she is “not for impeachment” of President Donald Trump. Despite a...
Parshat Vayikra: How to Find Meaning in Your Life
The US Declaration of Independence speaks of the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Recently, following the pioneering work of Martin...
Making a Mistake Isn’t the End of the World
The Chinese philosopher Confucius, is purported to have said: “If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.” I am...
Atoning for Unwitting Sins
This week's parsha, Vayikra, is about sacrifices. And though the laws we learn in it have been inoperative for almost 2,000 years, the moral principles...
Why Sacrifices?
Does Judaism really need animal sacrifices? Would it not be better off without them? After all, the sacrificial cult seems to weaken Judaism. What should a highly...
The Ethic of Holiness
With Tetzaveh, something new enters Judaism: Torat cohanim, the world and mindset of the priest. Rapidly it became a central dimension of Judaism. It dominates the...
Of Love and Hate
At the center of the mosaic books is Vayikra (Leviticus). At the centre of Vayikra is the "holiness code" (chapter 19) with its momentous...
Between Destiny and Chance
The third book of the Torah is known in English as "Leviticus", a word deriving from Greek and Latin, meaning, "pertaining to the ...
