Messages from May 2016

Rabbi O’s Weekly Torah: Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2) 5776/2016 Damage Control for the Soul

May 27, 2016
Leviticus
Behar

Rick is going to purchase a new pair of glasses from an online discount store but is not sure which pair to buy. He goes to an optician, tries on many pairs of glasses and after a half hour with the salesperson, finds the pair that suits him. He then goes home and buys the […]

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Emor Learn to Live!

May 20, 2016
Leviticus
Emor

For a seven day period you shall live in Sukkot (“booths”). Every resident among the Jews shall live in Sukkot. (Leviticus 23:42) The Torah instructs us to live in a Sukkah for seven days. We eat, sleep, and relax there as we would in our own homes. It isn’t difficult for most people to build […]

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Kedoshim (Leviticus 19-20)

May 13, 2016
Leviticus
Kedoshim

An urban legend claims that someone with a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery. I don’t know the source of this incorrect myth but Jewish mothers for decades have successfully used it to prevent their teenage sons/daughter’s from getting tattoos. Even though it won’t disqualify a corpse from burial in the Jewish cemetery, […]

Weekly Torah Portion: Acharei Mot-Kedoshim (Leviticus 16-20) 5776/2016 Holy Cheerios

What thought comes to mind when you think of holiness? For most, it conjures up people living a life of seclusion and abstinence where one is in a state of serenity and is free to ponder life’s conundrums. The Jewish view of holiness is incompatible with this notion. This week’s Torah portion begins with the […]