17 06, 2014

Judges 18 – The shameful history of Micah’s temple

By |2014-06-17T03:12:14-07:00June 17th, 2014|Thoughts|

                                                                                                                                           Chapter 18                                                  The shameful history of Micah’s temple   Whether one accepts the notion that chapter 17 was composed to ridicule the temple that King Jeroboam of the northern nation Israel built in Dan[1] or not, it seems that the origin of Micah’s temple is disgraceful, although this is not [...]

26 01, 2014

Terumah – Why do we have a “House of God”?

By |2014-01-26T08:10:45-07:00January 26th, 2014|Thoughts|

                                                                                                                                    TERUMAH                                                              (Chapters 25:1–27:19)                                         The ancient Sanctuary was not built for God[1]   This section of the Torah commands the building of a Sanctuary, a tent in which sacrifices were offered to God. Commentators dispute whether the command was issued before or after the episode of the golden calf which is [...]

5 04, 2013

Shemini – Unusual Interpretations 20

By |2013-04-05T06:29:38-07:00April 5th, 2013|Thoughts|

                                                                                                                   By Israel Drazin   Samson Raphael Hirsh, Abraham ibn Ezra, Arnold Ehrlich, and Maimonides have what some people might consider unusual even surprising interpretations of the biblical portion Shemini, Leviticus 9:1-11:47, such as the following.   Abraham ibn Ezra, Samson Raphael Hirsh, and many others noted that the Torah uses the numbers seven [...]

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