PARSHA POSTS: SHEMINI

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Apr 28, 2025, 10:40 PM

Keeping Count – Shemini 5785

Being a parent to two young children (and this may be familiar to many of us), there are times when children get sick and they need antibiotics for a set number of days. Whenever this happens in our house,...

Rachel Sharansky Danziger

Apr 28, 2025, 6:01 PM

At the crossroads of joy and sorrow, there are words

Two new books – one of fallen soldiers' messages before before their death, the other of women's prayers – offer words for these fraught times

Apr 25, 2025, 8:19 PM

Yom HaShoah Song Selection & Understanding the Week Ahead

The post-Pesach “Yom”s” are a lot. Just days after Pesach ends, we observe Yom HaShoah. Just one week later, we commemorate Yom Hazikaron and celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut. First, we try to properly capture the magnitude of the Holocaust – the...

Apr 25, 2025, 7:37 PM

Your Mission Here and Now

In one of the most fascinating and cryptic stories in Torah, two of the sons of Aaron the high priest, Nadav and Avihu, entered the holy of holies in parshas Shemini and offered unauthorized incense on the altar. Immediately,...

William Hamilton

Apr 25, 2025, 5:24 PM

“The Prophets of the Bible called out wrongs. They held nothing back when they criticized those who misled.” A grad student had this to say to me a few years ago. He was eager to engage me in his...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

Apr 25, 2025, 2:30 PM

The Eternal Life Diet (Shemini)

"Diet" (AI image by author)

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are. — Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin After a week of indulging in Matzah, potatoes, eggs, and a host of new Passover-friendly products—some of which barely resemble our usual fare—it...

Apr 25, 2025, 2:09 PM

There is a fascinating albeit disconcerting discourse brought in the Midrash Esther Rabbah. The lengthy discourse relates to the use of the word וַֽיְהִי - And it was; רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא וְרַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה וְרַבִּי חִיָּיא רַבָּה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר פָּתְרִין, הַמִּדְרָשׁ...

Apr 25, 2025, 7:20 AM

Two Clouds by Leann Shamash

Parshat Shemini continues onward with the drama of the first sacrifices. Just when we think that everything is all in place and will go flawlessly, Nadav and Avihu, the two sons of Aaron, offer a "alien fire" before God...

Apr 24, 2025, 11:40 PM

Parshah through the Mediator’s Lens: Shemini

Shemini courtesy My Jewish Learning.

As a Jewish legal mediator, I often turn to tradition not only for inspiration but also for wisdom in resolving disputes. This week’s Torah portion, Shemini, is especially powerful, yet unsettling at the same time. It contains a moment...

Apr 24, 2025, 7:10 PM

Food for Thought (Shemini, Covenant & Conversation)

The second half of Exodus and the first part of Leviticus form a carefully structured narrative. The Israelites are commanded to construct a Sanctuary. They carry out the command. This is followed by an account of sacrifices to be...

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