This week’s parsha contains a mitzvah that addresses the punishment to be placed upon those who curse their parents. This reference (Chapter 20 verse 9) seems to be a repeat from Shmot … more

“And G-d said to Moshe, ‘Say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and say to them, they should not become ‘tameh’ to people of the nation.’” (Vayikra 23:1) The opening instruction in our parsha is for the kohanim to learn that they must follow a strict behavior, in which under ordinary circumstances they can only become “tameh” to a dead body if the deceased is one of seven close relatives. more

In describing the Yom Kippur service, the Torah tells us that “with this shall Aharon enter the Holy, with a bull that is ben bakar as a sin offering, and a ram as a burnt offering.” … more

The term Kodesh Kodashim appears in the Torah 18 times, twice in Parshat Ki Tisa. However, not once does it refer to the Holy of Holies, the section of the mishkan which houses the aron. The … more

By Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of October 30 2009/ 12 Cheshvan 5770 On my children’s bookshelf there is a book entitled “A Little Boy Named Avram.” The book follows one of the midrashic … more

In our tradition, the High Holidays are viewed as a time period when all of humanity, not just its Jews, are judged for the coming year. more

Mishpatim is one of the more prolific parshiot in terms of mitzvot. Close to 10 percent of the mitzvot of the Torah are in Mishpatim. What sometimes gets lost in translation is the … more

In college I took some classes in film theory and design. I can only imagine how artistic filmmakers would set up the scene of Bilaam riding on his donkey in the moments when the donkey veers off the … more

One of the more mysterious narratives in the Torah concerns what is likely the final trip back to Egypt after the Burning Bush (the midrash suggests Moshe went back and forth a number of times, and … more

By Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of Dec. 26, 2008 / 29 Kislev 5769 Have you ever bumped into someone you haven’t seen in over 20 years? This is a common occurrence in unfortunate circumstances … more