Torah Reflections
Each week, Rabbi Olivier prepares a written reflection on the weekly Torah portion. These provide yet another way to discover the texts sacred to Judaism and to prepare for Shabbat each week.
We Are Energy Bodies
Tazria-Metzora Leviticus 12:1 - 15:33 This week's a dual Torah portion contains a number of passages that definitely challenge our modern sensibilities. Many verses are devoted to tzara’at, a skin affliction that most translators define as leprosy, although no one...
What is God’s Will for Me? Why Am I Here?
Sh'mini Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47 Growing up, I always had difficulty with the concept of doing “God’s will.” The rabbis of my youth spoke of observing the mitzvot—the divinely prescribed do’s and don’t’s in the Torah, Talmud, and Halachah—but I questioned such teachings...
Mah Nish’tanah? What Has Changed?
Passover Reflections Although we just closed the Book of Exodus, with Passover starting tonight, its stories linger still in our consciousness. This is the time of the year, personally, when I delight in re-opening the Passover Haggadah and in looking inside for more...
To The End of The Universe
Tzav Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36 The same opening verses of Parashat Tsav that lend themselves to reflections about kindling new light in our hearts have received yet another interpretation in the Kabbalistic tradition. “This is the ritual of the burnt offering” becomes, in...
How Will We Answer The Call?
VaYikra Leviticus 1:1 - 5:26 “VaYikra el Mosheh vaYedaber YHVH leave me-ohel moed.—He called to Moses. The Eternal One spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.” (Lev. 1:1) Thus begins the Book of Leviticus. In all of Torah, there are only three instances when Moses is...
Calling All Angels!
Vayak'heil - Pekudei Exodus 35:1 - 40:38 With these two parashiot, which are read together except during the Jewish leap year, when Pekudei stands alone during the additional month of Adar II, we are entering into the closing chapters of the Book of Exodus. Moses has...
When You Lift Up the People
Ki Tissa Exodus 30:11 - 34:35 It often happens that the reading of Ki Tissa, this week’s Torah portion, and the festival of Purim fall in the same week, and there is a remarkable congruence in their themes. An important part of Purim festivities is the custom of gift...
You Are the Eternal One
T'tzaveh Exodus 27:20 - 30:10 The ordination of Aaron and his sons into the priesthood is one of the high points of this Torah portion. In preparation, community artisans designed ornate garments, which were sewn together and decorated with gold, precious stones, and...
Creating an Inner Sanctuary
T'rumah: Exodus 25:1 - 27:19 "Creating an Inner Sanctuary" After a brief introduction, we come to one of the most famous lines in Torah: “V’asu Li mik’dash, v’Shachan’ti b’tocham,” usually translated: “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them”...
Our Highest Spiritual Principles
Mishpatim: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18 "Our Highest Spiritual Principles" When a person’s ox injures a neighbor’s ox and it dies, they shall sell the live ox and divide its price; they shall also divide the dead animal. If,...
It Begins with the Tenth Commandment
Yitro: Exodus 18:1 - 20:23 "It Begins with the Tenth Commandment" The centerpiece of Parashat Yitro is the theophany at Sinai and the gift of the Ten Commandments, the Ten Utterances. On the surface these utterances may appear merely as rules, laws, and...
Why Did They Have to Drown?
B'Shalach: Exodus 13:17 - 17:16 "Why Did They Have to Drown?" The Song at The Sea with its archaic Hebrew style—when compared with the rest of Torah—is probably the most ancient text in the entire Jewish canon. It describes Moses and the Israelites, having...