Post A God of Gold In a divine tour de force, God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt with miracles and wonders including the ten plagues and the splitting of the sea. Never… Read More
Post Do Jews Have Horns? After coming down from Mount Sinai, Moses’ face was so radiant that he had to wear a mask when speaking with people: And when Moshe had finished speaking with them,… Read More
Post God’s Thirteen Attributes of Mercy After the Children of Israel sinned with the Golden Calf, Moses ascended Mount Sinai and pleaded with God to forgive them. His pleas were successful so Moses considered it an… Read More
Post Hiram: The pagan who built Solomon’s Temple Every Shabbat, after the Torah is read in the synagogue, an additional reading is made which is taken from the Prophets. This reading is called the haftarah and is thematically… Read More
Post The Temple Menorah being a Light unto the Nations After commanding Israel to make the Tabernacle, rather than begin with the structure itself, God tells the Children of Israel to make the utensils that go into the tent, beginning… Read More
Post Shabbat as a Sign and a Covenant Shabbat, the Sabbath, is the seventh day of the week and the culmination of creation. Exodus (31:12-17) gives it an additional special meaning, describing it as “a sign” and “eternal covenant”… Read More
Post The 39 Acts Forbidden on the Sabbath After the instructions for the Tabernacle are given and right before the actual construction of the Tabernacle begins, Moses gives an incongruous message commanding the Jews to rest on Shabbat… Read More
Post The Artist Behind the Construction of the Tabernacle Even though no man ever came as close to God as Moses, when it came time to construct the Tabernacle, God assigned the task to Bezalel (meaning “in the shadow… Read More
Post The Blessing of the New Month The Shabbat which precedes Rosh Chodesh (new month), the beginning of a Hebrew month, is referred to as Shabbat Mevorchim, or the Shabbat when we bless. On this Shabbat a… Read More
Post The Enigmatic Breastplate Perhaps the most enigmatic element of the clothing of the High Priest was the breastplate, known in Hebrew as the choshen, which was attached to the ephod, or apron, of the… Read More