PARSHA POSTS: VAYIKRA

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Tzvi Gleiberman

Apr 11, 2025, 5:50 PM

Keeping the Fire Burning

A bunch of years ago, I staffed a Birthright trip for individuals with physical limitations. It was one of the most moving, and most exhausting experiences I’ve ever had. We flew with breathing tubes, wheelchairs, 24/7 medical teams, and...

Apr 9, 2025, 9:57 PM

The Essence of Gratitude, Community, and Freedom

Students enjoy a model Seder in class. Maimonides School, Brookline, MA

Throughout my life, and through my years of teaching, I have encountered many who feel bored by the weekly parshiot that relate the laws of sacrificial offerings. They seem esoteric in detail and outdated. Unrelatable. I never felt that...

Apr 9, 2025, 8:21 AM

Sacrifice for Purpose, Not for Pride

As we approach Passover, I find myself reflecting on a difficult part of the Torah — the detailed sections on animal sacrifices in the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus). If there were one parsha, I would be tempted to pass over...

Apr 4, 2025, 6:29 PM

Parshah through a Mediator’s Lens: Vayikra

Vayikra courtesy My Jewish Learning.

As we enter the book of Leviticus, the Torah portion of Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1–5:26) introduces us to the intricate system of sacrifices, a foundational element of the ancient Jewish relationship with G-d. At first glance, Vayikra may seem like...

William Hamilton

Apr 4, 2025, 5:40 PM

A Serenity Prayer with a Jewish Accent

It’s known as the Serenity Prayer. "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Yes, it’s about limitations, distinctions, and...

Moshe Simkovich

Apr 4, 2025, 2:59 PM

Redemption starts at home

Illustrative. An Israeli family seen during the Passover seder on the first night of the week-long Jewish holiday. (Nati Shohat/ Flash 90)

No matter how important Jewish institutions are, the key practice of Judaism that best preserves it begins with people at home, conversing together

Tzvi Gleiberman

Apr 4, 2025, 9:07 AM

Seeing the Unseen

(courtesy)

This past Wednesday, I had the privilege of joining an educational tour about the halachot of Eruv. Until Wednesday, I thought of an Eruv the way most people probably do -- it was just there. A wire on a...

Apr 4, 2025, 6:33 AM

Why Do We Sacrifice? (Vayikra, Covenant & Conversation)

The laws of sacrifices that dominate the early chapters of the Book of Leviticus are among the hardest in the Torah to relate to in the present. It has been almost two thousand years since the Temple was destroyed...

Apr 4, 2025, 12:24 AM

When Leaders Err

The Torah’s wording in describing the sin offering to be brought by a leader indicates that it is inevitable that leaders will make mistakes, and we are fortunate when we have leaders who take accountability for them. In this week’s...

Apr 3, 2025, 11:58 PM

Emergency Response (sibilty)

The arduous details of the sacrifices relayed in the portion and Book of Vayikra, that we begin this week, may well cause us to miss the forest for the trees or appreciate the context and the profound ideas being...

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