Post All Are Equal in the House of God The message of the half-shekel tax is that all are represented equally in the Temple. The community of God must include everyone…. Read More
Post Counting the Soldiers in God’s army The Book of Bamidbar, which literally means ‘in the desert’, is referred to in English as Numbers. Rather appropriately, it begins with a census of the Children of Israel (Numbers… Read More
Post Golda’s $50 Million Fundraiser In the months before Israel’s Declaration of Independence, war with the surrounding Arab states seemed inevitable, and obtaining funds to equip the Jewish army became critical. Golda Meir traveled to… 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 Month of Adar: Turning Darkness into Light The Bible does not name the Hebrew months, but declares that the month containing the holiday of Passover, the month we refer to as Nisan, is the first month. The… 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 Silver Half-Shekel and the Month of Adar Shabbat Shekalim is the last Shabbat preceding the beginning of the Hebrew month of Adar*, or the 1st of Adar itself if the month begins on Shabbat. In synagogues, the… Read More
