Weekly Torah Reading, Pekudei, March 16, 2024

Exodus 38:21 – 40:38 Keep Saying That   In general, rabbinic interpreters avoided recognizing repetitions in the biblical text as mere repetitions. The interpreters’ motto was “every word counts,” and this meant that no verse, or even part of a …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyakhel, March 9, 2024

Exodus 35:1-38:20 The More Mitzvot   It is customary in different Jewish communities to recite regularly a certain rabbinic saying—a saying found in the Mishnah which, on reflection, seems a bit odd:   “Rabbi Ḥananya ben ‘Akashya said: ‘The Holy …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Ki Tissa, March 2, 2024

Exodus 30:1 – 34:35   Rules if Rhetoric No sooner had God finished telling the Israelites not to make statues or idols for worship (Exod 20:4-5) than here they go and do exactly that! Well, people sometimes choose to do …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Tetzavveh, February 24, 2024

Exodus 27:20 – 30:10   Glorious Splendor   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 the kohen; kohanim …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Terumah, February 17, 2024

Exodus 25:1 – 27:19 Uplifted At first glance, there must have seemed no reason for God to instruct the Israelites about building the mishkan, Israel’s sanctuary-in-the-desert. At this stage of things (before the sin of the spies in Numbers 13), …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Mishpatim, February 10, 2024

Exodus 21:1-24:18 A Pastoral Interlude   This week’s reading is full of different rules and regulations: the Hebrew slave who wants to remain a slave; the goring ox; the burning field, and so forth. Some of these cases seem far …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Yitro, February 3, 2024

Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 Not Saying a Word   This week’s Torah reading includes the well-known commandment to “remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11). About this commandment the prophet Isaiah particularly stressed the importance of a …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Beshallah, January 27, 2024

Exodus 13:17-17:16 Not One, Two   This week’s reading prominently features the Song of the Sea—the song that the Israelites sang after their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15). For this reason, this Shabbat is also known as …

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