The Torah portion for this week, Terumah (Gift-offering), from Exodus 25 discusses the building of the first sanctuary of the Jewish people, a tent like structure, built, dissembled, carried and built again, numerous times during the Hebrews forty years in the desert. Its plan and utensils became the basis for...

This year Tu BiShvat (15th of Shevat) or Jewish Arbor Day takes place on Monday, February 10, 2020. Its origins are found in the discussions of the early rabbis about the Jewish calendar. The followers of Shammai declared that the first day of the month of Shevat to be “the...

Equal Opportunity Hate: The Sad Reality of Contemporary Anti-Semitism With this week’s Torah, Shemot (“Names”) we begin the second Book of the Torah, Exodus. Basically, the first Book, Genesis, is an introduction to the other four books of the Torah and with Exodus, we meet Moses who, along with God,...