by Ahuva Balofsky (Moderator) | f 31, 2015 | Beha'alotcha
One year after the exodus from Egypt, God tells the people they must celebrate Passover. It is the beginning of their second year in the wilderness. On the fourteenth day of the first month, they perform the Passover sacrifice as commanded, but not everyone is able to...
by Ahuva Balofsky (Moderator) | f 31, 2015 | Beha'alotcha
An unusual incident is now related, in which Miriam and Aaron speak poorly of their brother, particularly about his choice of wife. After all, they say, doesn’t God speak to us, too? God is displeased with the disrespect the pair are showing towards their...
by Ahuva Balofsky (Moderator) | f 31, 2015 | Beha'alotcha
Our portion begins with God instructing Aaron, via Moses, to kindle the Menorah lamp in the Tabernacle so that each light points towards the face of the Menorah. The Menorah itself, we are reminded, is hammered from a single piece of gold. The Israel Bible...
by Ahuva Balofsky (Moderator) | f 31, 2015 | Beha'alotcha, Revelation and Prophecy, Temple
This busy portion contains a number of legal and technical details, as well as stories. We are told of the Levites’ appointment as assistants to the priestly service, and the celebration of Passover in the desert after the exodus. The preparations and arrangements for...
by Ahuva Balofsky (Moderator) | f 31, 2015 | Beha'alotcha
Here begins a dark chapter in the Israelites’ journey, foreshadowing worse to come next week. The Torah tells of not one, but two complaints the people level against God and Moses. The first is left to the reader’s imagination, and we are only told that God becomes...
by Ahuva Balofsky (Moderator) | f 31, 2015 | Beha'alotcha
Now the Torah describes the process of the people’s journeys through the wilderness. We are told that once the Tabernacle was erected in the camp, the cloud of God’s Glory would settle upon it. When the cloud lifted off the Tabernacle, it was a sign the time had come...
