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PARSHA POSTS: SHEMINI

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Apr 15, 2026, 7:58 AM

When Animals Speak: What Parashat Shemini Reveals About the Human Soul

Shemini: When Animals Speak to Humanity On the Cat, the Lion, Quiet Strength, and the Wisdom Hidden in Creation When we read the weekly Torah portion Shemini, we encounter not only the theme of the laws of kashrut, but also a...

Apr 13, 2026, 7:07 PM

A Time to Keep Silent and a Time to Speak

Thoughts on Parshat Shmini and Yom HaShoah Leviticus 9, the opening chapter of this week’s Torah reading, deals with ritual laws that since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70C.E. no longer are a part of Jewish ritual practice....

Andy Blumenthal

Apr 12, 2026, 7:30 AM

Holy Math: Why the Number 8 Changes Everything

Rarely does the synagogue calendar align with such poetic precision. This past Shabbat, our congregation witnessed a Brit Milah (circumcision) during the morning service—a ceremony many of us realized we hadn’t seen performed on the Sabbath in years. The event...

Apr 10, 2026, 8:49 PM

Shalom Brothers: When Men Worship Heat Instead of Light (Parshat Shmini)

There is a certain kind of man our culture still knows how to applaud. He is bold. Unfiltered. A little dangerous. He says what others will not say, does what others will not do, and carries himself with the...

Daniel Z. Feldman

Apr 10, 2026, 7:52 PM

The Close of Passover and Shemini: Game Theory, Justice, and the Iran War

As the sun set on Tuesday night, American Jews turned off their phones in anticipation of the last two days of Passover, while news had started to spread of an impending ceasefire in America's war against Iran. The attention...

William Hamilton

Apr 10, 2026, 6:32 PM

What to learn from a Story

A true story. Back in the 1970s a Soviet Jew seated at a Moscow Seder table felt an urge. He recalled a fellow Jew who’d been imprisoned for secretly teaching Hebrew. His urge was to bring him a small...

Apr 10, 2026, 6:36 AM

Between Sirens and Silence

We are not reading about war. We are living inside it. I bumped into some neighbours last night, one of those casual encounters that begins with a few words and a bit of catching up, but then shifts almost naturally...

Apr 10, 2026, 12:52 AM

Truth vs. Peace

It was supposed to be a smooth end to a long journey. Since the catastrophic incident of the Golden Calf, the Jewish people had been treading a difficult, angst-ridden path to redemption. Moshe had ascended Mount Sinai for a...

Apr 9, 2026, 10:10 PM

Fire: Holy and Unholy (Shemini, Covenant & Conversation)

The shock is immense. For several weeks and many chapters – the longest prelude in the Torah – we have read of the preparations for the moment at which God would bring His Presence to rest in the midst...

Mordechai Silverstein

Apr 9, 2026, 10:04 PM

Don’t Be a Pig

In Parshat Shemini, the rudiments of the laws of kashrut, the Jewish dietary system, are introduced, particularly the animals that are off limits. The Torah outlines several basic rules governing which animals may be eaten and which may not:...

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