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Immoral Food?

Parashat Tzav (Leviticus 6:1[8]-8:36)

Sometimes, to our modern minds, the Torah’s instructions can seem irrelevant, primitive, or even savage. Take this week’s Torah reading for example. The first few chapters continue on about the various ritual sacrifices that our previous portion began describing. In chapter seven we learn that the meat from certain sacrifices may not be leftover after a certain amount of time. The meat of some sacrifices must be eaten before the next morning, but others may be extended until the following evening. The consequence for eating this meat after the prescribed time is that the person will be sinning:

He who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity. (Leviticus 7:18)

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Parashat Vayikra - Leviticus 1:1-5:26

Drawing Near

As we finish the book of Shemot (Exodus) we now turn to the book of Vayikra (Leviticus). When most people begin a study of the book of Leviticus, they probably don’t get that excited. It’s almost entirely focused on animal sacrifices, various sprinklings of blood, bodily discharges, and purification rituals. The modern reader finds a study of Leviticus more repulsive than edifying. This is because these rituals are foreign to the modern reader in a time when animal sacrifice is considered more barbaric than spiritual. 

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An Eternal Priesthood

Parashat Pekudei (Exodus 35:1 - 40:38)

What comes to mind when you hear someone speak of an “eternal priesthood”? If you are a disciple of Yeshua, then Yeshua’s ministry automatically comes to mind. As the book of Hebrews says, he is a high priest forever, continually ministering before his Heavenly Father on our behalf:

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:19–20)

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Who Are These?

Who Are These?

Parashat Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26)

When Jacob was one hundred and forty-seven years old he realized his life on this earth had come to an end. Because of this he called Joseph to him and made him swear that when he departed from this life that Joseph would not bury his body in Egypt, but take it back to Canaan and bury it there. The next thing we learn is that Jacob has become seriously ill. When Joseph understood the severity of his father’s illness he brought his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to his father so that he would bless them. Jacob tells Joseph:

And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. (Genesis 48:5–6)

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The Power of Hope

The Power of Hope

Genesis 44:18-47:27

Is this week’s Torah portion we learn about the reunion of Joseph and his family. How appropriate for the name of the portion to be called Vayigash, which means, “and he came near.” After a long period of being apart from his family, Joseph was able to come near his family. Not only did Joseph reveal himself to his brothers after the long wait for his plan to succeed, but he was also reunited with his father who had given up hope of Joseph’s survival years beforehand. 

After revealing himself to his brothers, he instructed them to go back and get their father and all of their possessions and move down to Egypt where he would provide for them. Once they got back home to their father, however, Jacob did not initially believe the news about Joseph:

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The Grand Illusion

The Grand Illusion

Parashat Vayeishev (Genesis 37:1-40:23)

Everyone enjoys a good magician. They appear to do what seems completely impossible. But although they can entertain people for hours on end, the craft of a magician is based on illusion and misdirection. They draw our attention to one thing in order to distract us from another. If they want us to watch what one hand is doing, then the other hand is doing the real “magic.” If they point at an object, it’s generally misdirection. But we don’t mind this. In fact, we pay money to be misguided and have our point of view mislead.

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