by Rabbi Shraga Simmons The shooting case has become the mother of all fauxtographies. It’s the case that seems to never die. Twelve years after the “shooting of Muhammad al-Dura” on the second day of the Intifada in Gaza, the Israeli government has now concluded that IDF fire did not kill Muhammad al-Dura, and there [...] Read more »
Moshe Kempinski Do the Kohanim ( Aaronic Priests) bless the people of Israel or do they pray for them? Is there a difference? We read the following in the Torah portion of Nasso “HaShem spoke to Moses saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: This is how you shall bless the children of Israel, [...] Read more »
Why we read Bamidbar before Shavuot. From Moshe Kempinski Ezra the scribe decreed that in the weekly reading of the Torah portion the portion of Bamidbar (in the wilderness) would always precede the festival of Shavuot ( Pentecost) the festival commemorating the revelation of G-d at mount Sinai. Why was it thought to be important [...] Read more »
Moshe Kempinski World Leaders would do well to listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts that were aired prior to the Six day war. This was prior to the formation of the 1967 lines precedent that they and the present american administration seems to rely on. This was before Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland [...] Read more »
Moshe Kempinski In the Torah portion of Emor we return to the topic of the biblical festivals. Those same festivals are discussed as well in Shemot ( Exodus:23)and in Devarim (Deuteronomy:16) . Yet in this portion ,the Chagim ( festivals) are described with two terms that do not appear in the other two sections. ” [...] Read more »
Fear, awe, love of G-d, as we feel closer we realize just how far away we are. From Moshe Kempinski You shall be holy for I, G-d, your G-d am holy. (Leviticus 19:1) What then is the essential nature of that holiness that G-d demands of us? Holiness can best be described as a state [...] Read more »
Moshe Kempinski He wanted to share our joys and troubles. We are entering the days of celebration for the establishment of the State of Israel, followed three weeks later by the day celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem. Around us, the world gathers their weapons and brandishes their swords at us and at each other . [...] Read more »
Moshe Kempinski ( le-refuat Yehudit bat Golda Yocheved The first word of our parsha ( Torah portion) is impactful and instructive. “And it came to pass ( VaYehi) on the eighth day (9:1). The word Vayehi reveals much. Traditionally the word “VaYehi” relates to concern and woe .In fact our sages teach that this word [...] Read more »
Moshe Kempinski In the Torah portion of Tzav we read the following; “And Aaron and his sons shall eat whatever is left over from it. It shall be eaten asunleavened bread in a holy place; they shall eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. . It shall not be baked leavened.As their [...] Read more »
