holiness
Why Are There Limitations Regarding Who a Priest Can Marry?
Until the Exodus from Egypt, the patriarchs had an individual relationship with God, bringing sacrifices wherever and whenever they felt the calling. But when God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, what had been a clan, a loose...
What Does it Mean to Be Holy?
Leviticus Chapter 19 begins with a deceptively simple commandment: You shall be holy, for I, Hashem your God, am holy. Leviticus 19:2 There has been much speculation about this verse. At first glance, the imperative seems impossible as...
Weekly Torah Portion: Building a Holy Nation
You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. (Leviticus 19:2) Throughout Leviticus, God commands Moses to teach the Children of Israel, or to instruct them in various commandments and rules of behavior. With this scripture, God...
Weekly Torah Portion: Holiness
The following is a taste of our Israel Bible Reading Plan. Follow the weekly portion with summaries, insights and lively conversation. This portion begins with an exhortation to “be holy”. The subsequent verses outline how to achieve that...
Weekly Torah Portion: Purity in the Land
Chapter 18 of Leviticus is seemingly a list of dos and don'ts, not unlike many of the rules of purity and impurity listed throughout Leviticus. But at closer examination, there is something different about the instructions listed here....
The Portion of Acharei Mot
The portion of Acharei Mot picks up following the deaths of Aaron’s older sons, Nadab and Abihu. It contains the instructions for the Yom Kippur -- or Day of Atonement -- service in the Tabernacle, and forbids slaughtering animal...
