Our parasha opens with a description of human conception - Should a woman quicken with seed and give birth. A midrash connects it to a verse from the book of Job: I shall speak my mind far and wide and show that the right is with my Maker (Job 36:3). This verse is the introduction
The Talmud relates a story about a Roman Caesar asking one of the Rabbis to “see your God.” He was so persistent that one summer’s day, the Rabbi advised Caesar to gaze at the blinding sun - and then Caesar got the point. To see God is impossible. This story appears at what is almost the
Purim is the happiest day on the Jewish calendar - so much so that there is an obligation to party and drink almost to the point that one cannot distinguish between how blessed is Mordechai and how cursed is Haman. Purim was established in the time of Prophets and is the only addition they made
To offer on the altar that which is wholly unkosher is, points out the Abrabarnel, a strange thing to do. And yet one finds that the blood and suet fats - both forbidden for human consumption - are key parts of the sacrificial service. Quoting Isaiah 1:18 “If your offenses be like scarlet, like snow
And it happened in the first month in the second year, on the first of the month, that the Tabernacle was set up. The mishkan was set up on the first day of the first month (Nisan). Citing this verse, Ralbag suggests that this spring month of Nisan appears to be the beginning of the
