Drash

Foul Mixtures and Fools

Sotah Drash by Stan Satz

Naso: Numbers 4:21-7:89  

Numbers 5:11-31 contains the distasteful sotah ritual instigated by a husband who is convinced, even though there are no witnesses, that his wife has been unfaithful to him.  Sotah means… Continue reading

Written Torah, Oral Torah, and Atonement

BeharBechukotai בְּהַר-בְּחֻקֹּתַי

Drash by Daniel Koster

Blessed were the Israelites in the time of Moses, for they knew the danger. The procedure for sacrifice is to place the offering on the altar, and wait for fire to… Continue reading

Tazria and Tzaraʻat

Parshat Tazria Drash by Alexander Fellman

Good Shabbos, all. I’d like to start, as is my custom, with a little story: There is a council of Rabbis meeting, discussing a matter pertaining to the ritual impurity of an oven under… Continue reading

Dancing to Praise God

Haftorah Commentary for Sh’mini by Stan Satz

In the Torah, the most familiar example of dancing to praise God is found in Exodus Chapter 15 verse 20: Miriam, the sister of Aaron and Moses, choreographs and orchestrates the… Continue reading

Eternal Flame and Sacrifice

Tetzaveh Drash by Daniel Koster

Why does God want all this? This week, God instructs the Israelites to maintain  an eternal oil lamp, to construct extremely intricate (that is, expensive) robes for the  priests, and to sacrifice a… Continue reading

Justice and Mercy

Parsha Bo drash by Stan Satz

Parasha Bo (Chapter 10 through the 16th verse of Chapter 13)

I was in graduate school at Kent State University in the iconoclastic early 1970’s. At that time, one of my non-Jewish English graduate… Continue reading

The Bones of Joseph

Vayehi Drash by Howard Streicher

The different themes to pursue in Parsha Vayehi (“And he lived”) give us the opportunity for integrating the past into the present.  Yet, accepting the value of Torah without questioning the literal truth of… Continue reading

The Rest is Commentary

Vayera Drash by Alexander Fellman

וַיְחַזֵּ֤ק יְהוָה֙ אֶת־לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֔ה

But Hashem hardened pharaoh’s heart.

 

There is a concept among Christians called the unforgivable sin, the sin that God will never allow repentance for. In most churches, it is the… Continue reading

The Blessings of Yaʻakov

Toldot Drash By Alexander Fellman

There’s a story I like. A Jew was found on a deserted island. He’d made quite a time of his prison there, building himself a house, a street, and two synagogues. “I go to that… Continue reading

Divine Justice & Free Will

Reʻeh Drash by Howard Streicher

Reʻeh, “see,” is the longest parsha with the most words in the book of words (Devarim) 7442 letters, 1932 Hebrew words. 

To begin the parsha, God appears to offer a clear choice placing… Continue reading

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