Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyakhel, March 22, 2025
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyakhel, March 22, 2025 Mirrors and Their Meaning This week’s reading recounts in detail how the Israelites carried out God’s commandment to build a tabernacle (mishkan)—the moveable sanctuary that would serve as a kind of temple during …
Weekly Torah Reading, Tetzavveh, March 8, 2025
Exodus 27:20 – 30:10 Splendor in the Temple This week’s Torah reading describes the special garments to be worn by the kohanim (priests) in the Temple. Those garments were no minor detail. In ancient Israel, clothes made …
Weekly Torah Reading, Terumah, March 1, 2025
Weekly Torah Reading, Terumah, March 1, 2025 Exodus 25:1 – 27:19 A New Garden At first glance, there might have seemed no reason for God to instruct the Israelites about building the mishkan, Israel’s sanctuary-in-the-desert, as recounted in this …
Weekly Torah Reading, Mishpatim, February 22, 2025
Weekly Torah Reading, Mishpatim, February 22, 2025 Is Abortion Justifiable? This week’s reading contains numerous laws governing various aspects of daily life. At first, some of these might seem far removed from our own daily lives. You’re probably …
Weekly Torah Reading, Yitro, February 15, 2025
Weekly Torah Reading, Yitro, February 15, 2025 Exodus 18:1-20:23 Two Tablets? Ancient readers asked a question about the Ten Commandments, one that occurs to few people nowadays: Why did the Ten Commandments need to be written on two stone tablets? …
Weekly Torah Reading, Beshallaḥ, February 8, 2025
Weekly Torah Reading, Beshallaḥ, February 8, 2025 One Great Song—Again! This week’s reading prominently features the Song of the Sea—the song of victory that the Israelites sang after their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15). For …
Weekly Torah Reading, Bo’, February 1, 2025
Heavy Hearted In this week’s reading, the Egyptian king (Pharaoh) is frequently said to have “hardened his heart” in various permutations. An old tradition holds that this phrase means “to make stubborn.” Thus, God tells Moses to go …
Weekly Torah Reading, Va’era, January 25, 2025
Weekly Torah Reading, Va’era, January 25, 2025 Exodus 6:2-9:35 Guaranteed! This week’s reading begins with God telling Moses, “I am the Lord” (spelled YHWH). But surely Moses knew that already. In fact, just a few paragraphs earlier, God had …