Perhaps one of the most unique features characterizing Shavuot is the extensive ‘Omer’ count that leads up to the holiday. It’s fascinating that the Torah does not even prescribe a specific calendar date for Shavuot but simply positions it as…
Taste of Torah: Is Your Judaism Dead?
How much of the material you learned for your last midterm do you still remember? Studies say less than 10%. How come? You studied well. However, most of knowledge we acquire is superficial and does not connect to us on…
Taste of Torah: Man, Animal and Object
This week’s Torah portion is Parshat Emor. The portion describes the idea of holiness through man, animal and objects. Although they are spread throughout the portion, they all communicate the same idea: We are all holy beyond knowledge and as soon…
Taste of Torah: Love Your Fellow As You’d Love Yourself
This week’s Torah portion introduces the well-known Judaic concept of “Love your fellow, as yourself.” It is interesting to note that in contrast to most of the other fundamental commandments, the instruction to “Love your fellow, as yourself” does not…
Taste of Torah: On Tzara’at and Intellectual Honesty
In this week’s parsha, Tazria, we are quickly confronted with laws and procedures dealing with tzara’at. The initial verse regarding this phenomenon is as follows: אָדָם כִּי־יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת אוֹ־סַפַּחַת אוֹ בַהֶרֶת וְהָיָה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרוֹ לְנֶגַע צָרָעַת וְהוּבָא אֶל־אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל־אַחַד מִבָּנָיו…
I Wrote This On Shabbat
Even as a child, lighting candles on Shabbat with my grandmother and mother as a ritual held a meaningful place in my heart. While my family never strictly adhered to every single rule of Shabbat, we observed it through the…
Taste of Torah: Vayakhel and Pekudei
By Rabbi Levi Haskelevich, Chabad at Penn This week’s Shabbat is packed with multiple ritual and historical significant components that all come together in a very special way. Two Torah portions: Vayakhel and Pekudei, the final portions in the Book…
Hot states, cold states and the golden calf
Tax season is upon us. Not only do we read Form 1040 instruction manuals this time of year, but if you pay attention during this week’s Torah reading, you will see that we also read about a tax of more…
Is it Purim Already? On Judaism and Drinking
Alcohol and religion do have somewhat of a love-hate relationship, not unlike alcohol’s relationship with college. It’s true, alcohol (wine especially) does tend to play a role in a lot of religious practices and rituals. For the most part however,…
Taste of Torah: Humility and the Menorah
The third Aliyah of this week’s Torah portion, Terumah, goes into great detail while describing the elaborate instructions for the construction of the Menorah. However, Rashi comments that Moshe just threw a block of gold into the fire, and the…