(link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini And fire went out from before the lord And consumed them and they died before the lord. (Vayikra 10:2)   And they died before the Lord – Because they thought that they did something favorable before Him. (Ibn Ezra, ibid. ibid)   …There is no doubt that their intention was desirable; for they were called "those close to me" even after their sin. Their desirable intent finds expression in the words of the Torat Cohanim: "They too were in a state of...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; and he said unto Aaron: 'Take thee a bull-calf for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. (Leviticus 9,1-2)   R. Shmuel bar Nachman said: For an entire seven days while at the burning bush God was trying to convince Moshe to accept the mission and...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini This is the statute of the teaching that the Lord has charged, saying: Speak to the Israelites, that they take you a perfect red cow that has no blemish and on which no yoke has been put. (Bemidbar 19:2)   This is the statute of the teaching. The rites pertaining to the red Heifer were designed to discourage association with the dead, prompted by the bereaved's often excessive love for the departed. Alternatively, that people should...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini I will be sanctified through those near to Me   …One may, perhaps, go even further and say: The pious believer who was not there but meekly submits, not to his own destruction, but to that of six million of his brethren, insults with his faith the faith of the concentration camps. The k'doshim, who affirmed their faith in the God of Israel in the light of the doom that surrounded them may well say to...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication, neither you nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, so that you shall not die. an eternal statute for your generations. (Vayikra 10:9)   Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication, etc. This commandment was mentioned here because wine was created solely to comfort mourners (Eruvin 65a), and Aaron thought that he would at least be allowed...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini THIS IS THE STATUTE OF THE TORAH WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED, SAYING, SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AND HAVE THEM TAKE FOR YOU A PERFECTLY RED UNBLEMISHED COW, UPON WHICH NO YOKE WAS LAID. (Bamidbar 19:2)   have them take for you a… red… cow – it will always be called by your name [The secret of the red cow was revealed to Moses alone; that is why Scripture says that he prepared...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini BUT THESE YOU SHALL NOT EAT AMONG THOSE THAT BRING UP THE CUD AND THOSE THAT HAVE A CLOVEN HOOF: THE CAMEL, BECAUSE IT BRINGS UP ITS CUD, BUT DOES NOT HAVE A CLOVEN HOOF; IT IS UNCLEAN FOR YOU. (Vayikra 11:4)   From every clean animal… R. Yudin said in the name of R. Yohanan and R. Brekhia said in the name of R. Eliezer, and R. Ya'akov of Kfar Hanin said...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Shmini SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SAYING: THESE ARE THE BEASTS THAT YOU SHALL EAT OF ALL THE ANIMALS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. (Vayikra 11:2)   This is the law of the Torah: The Lord"s utterances are pure utterances (Psalms 12) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: We find that the Holy One blessed be He "bent" two or three words in the Torah in order to avoid saying an impure thing: From...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Shmini THIS IS THE RITUAL LAW THAT THE LORD HAS COMMANDED: INSTRUCT THE ISRAELITE PEOPLE TO BRING YOU A RED COW WITHOUT BLEMISH, IN WHICH THERE IS NO DEFECT AND ON WHICH NO YOLK HAS BEEN LAID. (Bamidbar 19:2)   Respect for the Dead, the Impurity of the Dead, and the Cult of the Dead and their Graves Or a human bone or a grave – The Torah is stricter regarding the impurity associated with a...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Shmini SPEAK TO THE ISRAELITE PEOPLE THUS: THESE ARE THE CREATURES THAT YOU MAY EAT FROM AMONG ALL THE LAND ANIMALS. (Vayikra 11: 2)   The Laws of Slaughter and the Restrictions on Eating Meat are Stages Towards a Higher Spiritual State These are the creatures that you may eat: It begins by permitting certain types of meat, (and so with grasshoppers and fish), implying that it would be best not to eat any living...