And the priests shall set My name over the Israelites God instructs the priests to teach us that the fundamental work of a Jew is to realize that s/he is a chariot for the Divine this is Rabbi Hirschs understanding of this verse. Before and after our individual names, we carry My name, the Divine name; it
And the LORD spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert in the Tent of the Meeting The Ibn Ezra points out that although he was still in the region of Mount Sinai, Moshe never returned there; he still communicated with God but he did so in the Mishkan the Tent of the Meeting. For Moshe, greater than
If you go by My statutes and protect My commands and do them The Midrash contrasts protecting the commandments with actually doing them. It says: if you protect my Torah then it will be as if you performed the commandments. This statement speaks inclusively to the kaleidoscope of Jewish commitment and observance. What does it
And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and call a release in the land to all its inhabitants. A jubilee it shall be for you We continue to observe the Sabbatical year the next one begins Rosh HaShana of 2014 but we no longer observe the Jubilee. The Talmud tells us that the Jubilee
A bull or sheep, you shall not sacrifice it with its young on the same day. The Ramban opines that the reason for this prohibition is to prevent the extinction of a species. We are allowed to use animals for our benefit but the Torah does not accept the cynical exploitation of natural resources without regard for
