Ellie Ausubel - Educator Parshat Emor Counting UpIn this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Emor, we read about the mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer, counting seven weeks from Pesach and culminating with the holiday of Shavuot. Although not explicitly written in the pesukim, most children in school will tell you that...
Tali Karp - Educator Parshat Achrei Mot-Kedoshim ויקרא י״ט:א׳-ב׳ (א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃ Leviticus 19:1-2 (1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD...
Lani Margolis - Educator Parshat Tazria-Metzora The Real You "If a person will have upon his skin of his flesh… a tzara’at affliction… he shall be brought to Aaron the Kohen (priest) or one of his sons the Kohanim” (Vayikra/Leviticus 13:2) אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת...
Rav Yehoshua Felberg - Educator Parshat Tetzaveh/Zachor 17. You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt, יזזָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵֽאתְכֶ֥ם מִמִּצְרָֽיִם: 18how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your...
Esther Farkovits - Educator Parshat Terumah We are told to make a dwelling place for HaShem, king of the universe, here on earth. We would expect something grand. Instead, it’s a small tent like structure in the desert known as the Mishkan. There is a deep lesson...
Rav Avram Block - Educator Parshat Mishpatim/Shekalim Parshat Mishpatim, which follows almost immediately after the revelation of the Aseret HaDibrot at Har Sinai, deals initially with mitzvot that we would usually characterize as civil law – issues dealing with slavery, theft, personal injury, damages etc. Rashi asserts that the connection to the...
Ellie Ausubel - Educator Parshat Yitro Kabbalat HaTorah Then and Now In this week's parsha, Parshat Yitro, we reach the climax of the Exodus; the very purpose for which we were extracted from Egypt – to receive the Torah. What does our tradition tells us about Kabbalat haTorah and how can that...
Rav Yehoshua Felberg - Educator Parshat Beshalach This week’s parsha features the climax of the story of the Exodus. Fleeing Egypt and bondage, the Jewish people at last reach the yam suf and find themselves trapped. Behind them, the Egyptian armies bear down. According to the midrash, Nachshon...
Sophie Felberg - Office Manager Parshat Bo וּלְמַעַן תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי בִנְךָ וּבֶן בִּנְךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי בְּמִצְרַיִם וְאֶת אֹתֹתַי אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי בָם וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי ה'. “And so that you may relate in the ears of your son and your son’s son that I made a mockery of the...
Rav Yonaton Hirschhorn - Mashgiach Ruchani Parshat Va'era At the end of last week’s Parsha, after Pharaoh wholeheartedly disregards him, Moshe approaches Hashem with a broken heart and cries, “Why have You wronged this nation?”In Perek 51 of Tehillim, David HaMelech writes that, more than anything else,...