In the Diaspora Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim (Leviticus 16:1-20:27) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “You must surely instruct your colleague, so that you not bear the brunt of his sin” (Lev. 19:17). Judaism teaches us that “every Israelite is responsible for the other.” Except for the State of Israel, where the Jewish population …
Tazria-Metzora 5778 (In Spanish with English subtitles) Rabbi Eliahu Birnbaum – Director of OTS’s Beren-Amiel and Straus-Amiel Emissary Training Programs
“Taking Responsibility for our Own Redemption” – Rabbi Riskin’s insights into Parshat Acharei Mot – Kedoshim Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
In the Diaspora Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5778 (Leviticus 16:1-20:27) Rabbi David Stav This Shabbat, we will read the Torah portions Acharei Mot and Kedoshim. Though these two parashot ostensibly cover entirely different subjects, they share something profound in common, which is also tied to how they are structured. The first part of Acharei Mot deals …
In the Diaspora Parshat Tazria-Metzora (Leviticus 12:1-15:33) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “Then he shall sprinkle [the mixture] seven times upon the person being purified from the tzara’at; he shall purify him and set the live bird free upon the open field” (Leviticus 14:7). One of the strangest and most primitive-sounding rituals …
In the Diaspora Tazria-Metzora 5778 (Leviticus 12:1-15:33) Rabbi David Stav This Shabbat, we will read the double-parsha of Tazri’a–Metzora in our synagogues. Dozens of verses outline the symptoms of various skin diseases that appear on people’s heads, in their beards, in their clothes and in their homes. Suffice it to say that nowhere else …
Shemini 5778 (In Spanish with English subtitles) Rabbi Eliahu Birnbaum – Director of OTS’s Beren-Amiel and Straus-Amiel Emissary Training Programs
“Redemption in our Generation”– Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s insights into Parshat Tazria-Metzora and Yom Ha’atzmaut Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
In the Diaspora Shemini 5778 (Leviticus 9:1-11:47) Rabbi David Stav Following Passover, we resume reading the regular series of Torah readings, which contain the inauguration of the mishkan, the Tabernacle. After months of fund-raising to acquire the funds needed to build the mishkan, and a complex construction process, Aaron and his sons remain …
In the Diaspora Parshat Shemini (Leviticus 9:1-11:47) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – ‘And when Moses heard [Aaron’s argument] it found favor in his eyes’ (Leviticus 10:19). Our biblical portion opens with the exalting and exultant ceremonies of the consecration of the desert sanctuary, closely followed by a description of the tragic …