by Yehuda HaKohen –
It is in this curse that the Torah reveals the disgrace of Israel’s exile. And history can attest to the truth of these verses. Outside of our homeland, the Nation of Israel was reduced to vulnerable migrants wandering through foreign lands. Unable to resist the persecution we suffered in the Diaspora, Jews acquired a reputation for cowardice and victimization.
By Rav Elchanan Samet – Parashat Behar features a brief section dealing with the laws of “eved ivri,” the Jewish indentured servant (Vayikra 25:39-43). Although this halakhic concept is already familiar to us from Parashat Mishpatim (Shemot 21:2-6), the two discussions, as we will see, have virtually nothing in common beyond their shared interest in a Jew who becomes a servant to another Jew.
These mitzvot are given to not only each and every Jew to be safeguarded in our private lives but also the Hebrew Nation to be performed as a collective.
by Yehuda HaKohen
“You shall not be a gossip monger among your people, you shall not stand aside while your fellow’s blood is being shed – I am HaShem.
by Yehuda HaKohen of Machon Meir
While the great detail METZORA gives to unhygienic subjects like leprosy and scabs may seem distasteful to some, these themes actually accentuate the totality of HaShem’s Ideal.
Leprosy: Stringency and Leniency
The Torah introduces the code of law that the Priest was to use in order to determine the ritual status of objects stricken with Leprosy, “to pronounce it pure, or to pronounce it impure” (Lev. 13:59).
By Rav Chanoch Waxman
The deaths of Nadav and Avihu constitute one of the more mysterious events of Sefer Vayikra. The Torah presents the story in no more than two short verses:
by Rav Yoel Bin-Nun – Yeshivat Har Etzion – The eighth day (as described in Vayikra 9), the day of the revelation of the Shekhina, is unquestionably a continuation of the events of the seven days of “milu’im” (consecration) which preceded it. However,
By Rabbi Josh Gerstein – Chazon Yechezkel Synagogue, Arab Quarter of the Old City –
Many of the issues and challenges that confront the State of Israel today, seem to revolve around our inability to put aside our differences and to unite together as one people. This problem is not new to today, rather it is a challenge that we as a people have always struggled with.
VAYIKRA opens with an explanation of the korbanot. And like many other Hebrew words and ideas, the concept of a korban loses its true meaning and essence when translated into the English language.