You're Not a Kid Anymore The Torah says (Bamidbar 3:15) “Count the sons of Levi… from one month of age and up you shall count them.” Rav...

After the Torah details the laws that Moshe taught the Jewish people while they were encamped at Mount Sinai, the book of Vayikra concludes with parshas Bechukosai . In this final parsha, the book of Vayikra culminates in the Berachos , the blessings that Hashem promises the people if they follow His decrees and ordinances, and the Tochachah , the punishments that Hashem promises to carry out against the Jewish people if they break Hashem’s covenant and do not follow His comm

The Torah tells us (Vayikra 21:16-17): “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to Aharon, saying: any man of our offspring throughout their generations in whom there will be a blemish shall not come near to offer the food of his G-d”. The Torah then lists such blemishes, including a man “who is blind, lame, one whose nose has no bridge, or one who has one limb longer than the other” and other physical abnormalities (Ibid. 21:18-20). The Talmud derives 140 different blemishes t

We are now counting the Omer – the days between Pesach and Shavuos - and we are also involved in a period of national mourning, where weddings and musical celebrations are prohibited. The counting of the Omer should be a happy time, as we commemorate the joyful Exodus from Egypt and the progress of the Jewish people in the desert as they prepared to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai on Shavuos. If this is in essence a very joyful and happy time, why are we involved in nationa

This week’s parsha focuses on the biblical affliction of tzaraas , a condition that can appear on a person’s skin, scalp, or beard. Although its symptoms are physical, our sages understood tzaraas to be rooted in spiritual and moral failing. Most famously, the Torah connects lashon hara—slanderous speech—with tzaraas , as when Miriam was afflicted after speaking negatively about Moshe (Bamidbar 12). Yet, the Talmud (Arachin 16a) broadens the scope of tzaraas ’s causes to inc