…– measure for measure – that just as Aaron made space for his younger brother to lead, so the Torah makes space for Aaron to lead. That is why Aaron is the hero of Tetzaveh: for once, not overshadowed by Moses… The story of Aaron and Moses, the fifth act in the biblical drama of brotherhood, is where, finally, fraternity…
…Tell (a Pesach-themed video) Taking it Personally (A Covenant & Conversation video for the parshat Korach) Two Types of Leadership (A Covenant & Conversation video for the parshat Beha’alotecha) Leadership Means Making Space (A Covenant & Conversation video for the parshat Tetzaveh) The Challenge of Jewish Leadership (A Covenant & Conversation video for the parshat Shemot) Further articles to read…
Pekudei – in fact the whole cluster of chapters beginning with Terumah and Tetzaveh and culminating in Vayakhel and Pekudei – is an extraordinary way for the book of Exodus to end. The rest of the book is a tempestuous story of the Israelites’ exile and enslavement and the confrontation between the ruler of Egypt and the man he may…
…our sins, directly to God, individually and collectively, in the synagogue. Yom Kippur tells us: we each have responsibility. We can each mend some of the broken fragments of the world. And the more we mend, the more we grow. Keter Melucha A Royal Crown בֵּין תְּרוּמָה לְתְּצַוֶּה Between Terumah and Tetzaveh יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת קְצָת מְשֻׁנֶּה A somewhat strange birthday…
…team, the eight holy garments for the Kohanim are crafted per the detailed instructions given to Moshe in Tetzaveh. These garments include the apron, breastplate, cloak, crown, hat, tunic, sash, and breeches. After completing the Mishkan and its intricate components, everything is assembled and presented to Moshe. He then erects the Mishkan, consecrates it with the special anointing oil, and…
There are lives that are lessons. The late Henry Knobil’s was one. He was born in Vienna in 1932. His father had come there in the 1920s to escape the rising tide of antisemitism in Poland, but like Jacob fleeing from Esau to Laban, he found that he had fled one danger only to arrive at another. After the Anschluss…
Why is the Torah so specific and emphatic, in this week’s parsha, about the clothes to be worn by the Cohen and the Cohen Gadol? “These are the vestments that they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a knitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. Make them as sacred vestments for Aaron and his sons so that they…
Creation: Where Did We Come From? Transcript Jodie Cohen: Good evening Chief Rabbi, ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the third in the Chief Rabbi’s lecture series on Faith. My name is Jodie Cohen and I have been asked to chair this evening’s proceedings. The subject for this evening’s discussion is “Creation – Where did we come from?” Following the…
…three verses of Bereishit ch. 2). The making of the Mishkan takes hundreds of verses (Terumah, Tetzaveh, part of Ki Tissa, Vayakhel and Pekudei) – considerably more than ten times as long. Why? The universe is vast. The sanctuary was small, a modest construction of poles and drapes that could be dismantled and carried from place to place as the…
…God as shachen, a neighbour, intimate, close, within the camp, in the midst of the people. Yet for all this, we wonder why the Torah has to go on at such length in its details of the Mishkan, taking up the whole of Terumah and Tetzaveh, half of Ki Tissa, and then again Vayakhel and Pekudei. After all, the Mishkan…