Shemini 5782 (Shabbat Parah) Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47 Rabbi Gary Pokras Things start to move quickly in Shemini: the altar and the priesthood are dedicated with pomp and ceremony, and then later, Aaron’s sons are consumed by Divine fire for not following the laws of sacrifices. With all this drama, it is understandable that […]
Tzav 5782 Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36 Rabbi Gary Pokras Command Aaron and his sons, saying: “This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering which will remain upon the altar all night to the morning, and the fire of the altar will burn on it.” [Lev. 6:2] The burnt offering, […]
VaYikra 5782 (Shabbat Zachor) Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26 Rabbi Gary Pokras To put it mildly, the book of Leviticus is a challenge. The entire book completely abandons the narrative of the Exodus from Egypt, leaving it to the next book of the Torah to pick up. Instead, the book of Leviticus focuses almost exclusively on […]
Pekudei 5782 Exodus 38:21 – 40:38 Rabbi Gary Pokras This is it. The end of the book. The mishkan, the holy sanctuary, has finally been completed. I don’t have to tell you that it hasn’t been easy. Just two Torah portions ago we worshipped the Golden Calf – while Moses was up on the mountain […]
Return to Community of Action The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Background: Since its inception in 2017, Strong Schools Maryland has built a sprawling network of tens of thousands of individual grassroots supporters focused on securing the 2020 passage and 2021 veto override of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a law dedicating financial resources and critical […]
VaYakhel 5782 Exodus 35:1 – 38:20 Rabbi Jack Luxemburg The first word of this Torah portion gives the portion its name, Vayak’heil. It begins the opening verse: וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל–וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם: אֵלֶּה, הַדְּבָרִים, אֲשֶׁר-צִוָּה יְהוָה, לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם And Moses gathered (vayak’heil) all the legions of Israel and said to them, “These […]
Ki Tissa 5782 Exodus 30:11 – 34:35 Rabbi Gary Pokras Ki Tissa is an odd portion, reminiscent of the children’s song “one of these things is not like the other ones.” The two portions before Ki Tissa and the two portions after are all focused on the design and construction of the mishkan, where […]
Tetzaveh 5782 Exodus 27:20 – 30:10 Rabbi Jack Luxemburg Ralph Lauren (born Ralph Lifshitz) once said, “People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams.” In this week’s Torah Portion, Tetzaveh, it is as if […]
Terumah 5782 Exodus 25:1 – 27:19 Rabbi Gary Pokras Parashat Terumah describes the very first capital campaign in the history of our people, and as such, has probably been used to launch more synagogue and Jewish community campaigns, than, well, anything. At the beginning of the portion, God commands Moses: “Speak to the Israelites, and […]
Mishpatim 5782 Exodus 21:1 – 24:18 Rabbi Gary Pokras Human beings are not rational creatures. We say we are rational, and we like to think we are rational, but we have the capacity, and at times the inclination, to be deeply irrational. Today, it feels like we are surrounded by irrationality. For all we […]
