The priestly code; the rules pertaining to sacrifices, diet, and morality; and the Land of Israel and festivals are discussed.
You Count! When the cycle for the weekly Torah readings was established centuries ago, this week’s Parsha was designated specifically to precede the holiday of Shavuot, the festival commemorating the giving of the Torah. What is the connection between the two? It begins with G-d’s charge to Moses to conduct a census of the Jewish people. The […]
Dry Bread in Peace vs. Abundance in Pieces A blessing was bestowed on the Jewish people when they entered the Land of Israel. After mentioning how eaue to the generosity of the Land and how the people would eat in satiety, it concludes: And I will place peace in the land… (Leviticus 26:6) Four verses later there’s another […]
The Thoughtful Observer A Jew who is Shomer Shabbos (Sabbath observant), adheres to the kosher laws, and keeps other mitzvot in the Torah is referred to as an observant Jew. I’m not sure where exactly the term “observant” came from with reference to Jews, but a verse in this week’s Torah portion suggests an answer. You shall observe […]
Lesson 1 for a Jewish Convert The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) mentions an incident involving a gentile who came before the sage Hillel and said, Convert me to Judaism on the condition that you will teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot. Hillel told him: “That which is hateful to you, do not […]
CHIRP Why is so much of Diaspora Jewry ambivalent toward Israel? A peculiar phenomenon mentioned in this week’s Parsha sheds light. A unique spiritual illness having physical manifestations similar to leprosy existed in Biblical times; it resulted from speaking senseless gossip or derogatory speech. Part of the purification process was to bring two birds. Although […]
Sometimes Silence is the Answer This past year I had the opportunity to be part of a group who visited Auschwitz. That evening, we stayed in a hotel across the street from one of the oldest and most renowned synagogues in Poland, the Rema’s shul in Cracow. Over 40 years earlier, in 1979, Professor Yaffa Eliach […]
Roberto Clemente’s Lesson in Job Clarity Roberto Clemente, one of baseball’s most iconic figures, was playing outfield late into the 1968 season against the Houston Astros. The Pirates were no longer contenders, which meant that that game had no statistical meaning. A ball was hit deep into the outfield. As Clemente raced back, it seemed […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Vayikra (Leviticus 1-5) (Being as we are less than two weeks away from Passover, a short idea about one of Passover’s core messages will be presented at the end of this dvar Torah.) Set a Margin so Life doesn’t Just Barge In Margin/märjən/the edge or border of something. Although margins are important for […]
Two core themes of this week’s Parsha are the Jewish nation’s reward for remaining committed to their mission and also the curses that will befall them if they don’t. Every few centuries Jewish history repeats itself. It goes something like this: We are given freedom in a country or region and we prosper. We set […]
Imagine a woman getting promoted to management and being given a personal assistant. One day an old friend visits the office and the recently promoted manager wants to indicate her new status, and the power it wields. She calls in her assistant and asks her to bring a cup of coffee. When the assistant leaves […]
A great deal of this week’s Parsha deals with matters pertaining to Kohanim, the decedents of Aaron. “Priests” is usually the English translation but there’s no appropriate terminology to describe this unique group of people whose task it is to perform the service in Jerusalem’s ancient Temple as well as being teachers for the Jewish people. […]
The Talmud mentions an incident involving a gentile who came before the sage Hillel and said, Convert me to Judaism on the condition that you will teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot. Hillel told him: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the entire […]
The main topic addressed in this week’s Parsha is a condition called tzarat. Although it is generally translated as “leprosy,” other than the fact that it is a painful skin ailment, its exact nature is unknown to us and has not existed for thousands of years. It was not an airborne virus and it is the only […]
Creating PossibilitiesThis week’s Parsha continues discussing the harmful effects of lashon hara, senseless negative speech. Many people don’t take speech seriously, speaking about others without regard for their feelings or the potential damage it can cause. King Solomon wrote, Life and death are in the hands of the tongue. One explanation is that negative talk has the ability to […]
The main topic addressed in this week’s Parsha is a condition called tzarat. Although it is generally translated as “leprosy,” other than the fact that it is a painful skin ailment, its exact nature is unknown to us and has not existed for thousands of years. It was not an airborne virus and it is the only […]
This week’s Parsha ends with a detailed discussion concerning the specifics for determining whether a fish, animal, or even insect is kosher. The exact names of the kosher birds are listed and in addition we are taught what characteristics a bird requires to be fit for Jewish consumption. Birds of prey are not kosher. What […]
Dear All,Due to Rabbi Oppenheim sitting Shiva, he has not written his weekly dvar Torah. Therefore, I have chosen one from the past that hopefully will provide food for thought. Sara Many productivity experts recommend a daily routine at the start of the day. They posit that the first few minutes of your day are […]
Margin/märjən/the edge or border of something. Although margins are important for books, we don’t talk enough about the need to leave space for margins in life. In The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients, Irvin Yalom, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford, says that he never schedules back […]
In 2018 a study conducted at Ghent University (Belgium) demonstrated that people act differently when presented with a hypothetical moral decision than when faced with a real-life situation. Participants were presented with the “trolley dilemma,” which involves the following hypothetical scenario. A runaway trolley is about to hit five people on the tracks. They can take no […]
As social distance guidelines are becoming more relaxed, relief has come for many people who have been waiting to return to work and resume their regular routine. Some people are still fearful for the future and are worried about a second wave. Wherever one stands regarding policy, all agree that we all look forward to a […]
You are about to walk into a meeting; what are you thinking? Most likely, how do you look, what will you say, will it go over well? There’s nothing wrong with these thoughts but they are all centered around you and they might lead to fear. What if I flop? Will I get another chance? […]
The authors of Pandemics and the Great Evolutionary Mismatch discuss a scientific conundrum inherent in social distancing. Although social distancing is effective in slowing the spread of the disease, history and neuroscience have shown that in times of crisis, people do best when they have social interactions as a support system. When you remove that option, people have […]
This week’s Parsha continues discussing the harmful effects of lashon hara, senseless negative speech. Many people don’t take speech seriously, speaking about others without regard for their feelings or the potential damage it can cause. King Solomon wrote, Life and death are in the hands of the tongue. One explanation in the Talmud is that negative talk has the […]
You are about to walk across a bridge and you see a man frantically running toward you. You ask “what’s going on?” He answers, “my life has no hope; I am going to jump off the bridge!” This exact incident happened about 150 years ago to one of the most prominent Rabbis of that time. […]
When someone has to do a task that (s)he isn’t looking forward to, it’s common to hear “it’s not very glamorous, but somebody has to do it.” Which means, “this is really awful and meaningless but I have to do it.” But is there another—more positive—way to view these actions, and it is found in […]
Margin/märjən/the edge or border of something. Although margins are important for books, we don’t talk enough about the need to leave space for margins in life. In The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients, Irvin Yalom, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford, says that he never schedules back-to-back appointments. […]
The 26th chapter of Leviticus sets out with stunning clarity the terms of Jewish life for following the Almighty’s directives. On one hand, there is an idyllic picture of the blessing of Divine favor. How? If Israel follows G-d’s decrees and keeps His commands, there will be rain, the earth will yield its fruit, there will […]
A great deal of this week’s Parsha deals with matters pertaining toKohanim, the decedents of Aaron. “Priests” is usually the English translation but there’s no appropriate terminology to describe this unique group of people whose task it is to perform the service in Jerusalem’s ancient Temple as well as being teachers for the Jewish people. […]
Do not take revenge… (Leviticus 19:18)The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come only when their tormentors suffer. (Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption)Which one of us hasn’t had inner thoughts of vengeance at […]
Two core themes of this week’s Parsha are the Jewish nation’s reward for remaining committed to their mission and also the curses that will befall them if they don’t. Every few centuries Jewish history repeats itself. It goes something like this: We are given freedom in a country or region and we prosper. We set […]
