Audio with brief annotations. Let your eyes rest as you learn by listening. Exercise, walk your dog, or just kick back in a comfy chair and listen.
In our weekly reading, Behukotai, Vaikra ch. 27, Leviticus, we encounter arakhin - valuations related to vows made before Hashem. Torah is a very ancient document, which sometimes means it will be challenging for us to relate to the situations it describes. It speaks to a very different word. Nevertheless,...
This etiquette of shelomim offering may sound strange to us today if we do not fully grasp the symbolism and the implications of the scenario Torah presents us. Shelomim is a special offering of well-being, shalom, and wholeness. It means everything is well between you and Hashem. A worshipper is...
The Second Book of Enoch (Slavonic Enoch) or "The Book of Secrets or Enoch" is an ancient Jewish spiritual composition that follows the tradition of 1 Enoch. Analyzing the medieval manuscripts, scholars estimate the text's composition sometime after the second century CE. The "Book of...
Have you ever heard the saying "free as a bird?" Birds are considered free creatures because they have an amazing ability to fly. They can get away from danger very quickly. We observe them sitting on the branches of trees, singing and chirping. The impression we humans get...
In Exodus 35 and 36, we read the stories about craftsmen Betzalel ben Uri and Ben Hur and how Hashem endowed them with his spirit, Ruach Elohim, the “breath of God,” as Torah says in Exodus 35:31. Torah says that God filled the craftsmen who created all the items...
Our weekly reading begins with explanations about the burnt offerings. Offerings can teach us a lot. Vayikra, Leviticus 6:2 tells us that Aaron was to leave the Olah on the altar all night long, and the fire is to be maintained by the priests all night long. I believe...
The First Book of Enoch (Ethiopian Enoch), also known as "The Book of Watchers," is a well-known Jewish composition from the Second Temple era. "These are the words of Enoch, who bestowed a blessing upon the chosen and righteous who will exist during the days of great...
Everything was going well for Joseph until he deemed some amazing dreams that he unwisely shared with his brothers. He almost ended up dead because of that. Due to circumstances that were not entirely of Joseph’s own doing, the young man was sold into slavery and ended up in...
In Exodus 25, verse 8, Hashem says, veasu li Mikdash veshakhanti betokham – “and they shall make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst of them.” It struck me that after giving instructions, God charged Israel to build him a Mikdash. He expects them to be able to...