Post A Table Fit for a King When God commanded the Children of Israel to build a Tabernacle for him to dwell among them, he also commanded them to build furnishings. Perhaps the most intricate piece was… Read More
Post The Holy Half-Shekel In the beginning of the Torah portion of Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35), God commands the Children of Israel to take a census by collecting a silver half-shekel from every male… Read More
Post The Incense Altar: Linking the Physical and the Spiritual After instructing the Children of Israel about the priestly garments, God then describes the golden altar for offering incense. Similar to the Ark of the Covenant, the altar for the… Read More
Post The Many Uses of Olive Oil in Biblical Times The portion of Tetzaveh begins by telling the Children of Israel to bring pure olive oil for use in the Menorah in the Tabernacle (Exodus 27:20). For normal use, oil is extracted… Read More
Post The Message of the Eternal Flame When God instructs the Children of Israel to make the menorah, He tells them to gather oil “for kindling lamps regularly” (Exodus 27:20). Rashi explains that the light was to be… Read More
Post The Mystical Powers of the High Priest’s Head-Plate The Torah mandates eight garments for the Kohen Gadol (High Priest). Among them is the golden head-plate, or the tzitz (צִיץ), which was engraved with the words kodesh laHashem (קֹדֶשׁ… Read More
Post The Parochet Curtain: Separating the Holy and Holy of Holies In the Tabernacle, and later, in the Temples in Jerusalem, a curtain, called a parochet, separated the “Holy” from the “Holy of Holies.” The only person who passed through this… Read More
Post The Tabernacle: Giving From the Heart The Torah describes how the Children of Israel brought so many voluntary offerings for the construction of the Tabernacle that Moses called a stop to donations. The people gave so… Read More
Post The True Day of Rest The fourth of the Ten Commandments instructs the Children of Israel to observe Shabbat on the seventh day because God Himself created the world in six days and rested on… Read More
Post When Moses Saw God’s Back There is no doubt that Moses was close to God, even speaking with Him “face to face, as one man speaks to another” (Exodus 33:11). But Moses wanted even more… Read More
