Mindful Torah...and more

This week's parashah is Naso (Be'midbar/Numbers 4:21-7:89). The portion contains within it the Birkat Kohanim/Priestly Blessings, which are the oldest blessings in the Jewish tradition. In the parashah, God commands Aaron and his sons to bless the people with the words that have become so familiar to us, "May God Bless you and keep you; May God's face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; May God lift up the Divine face towards you and grant you Shalom/Peace." Until this day, in more traditional communities, the Kohanim - those believed to be descended from Aaron - stand in front of the congregation and offer this blessing in the same way we believe the ancient Kohanim did. They spread their hands out in front of them, palms facing down, and their fingers separated in the special manner reserved for the priests (though more familiar to many of us as Spock's "live long and prosper" sign on Star Trek, which Leonard Nimoy borrowed from his Jewish her

Well, I'm beginning my life as a new blogger with an old Torah commentary that I wrote a couple years ago on Parshat Behukotai , which is the last portion in the book of Vayikra /Leviticus. I'm sort of using this as a test posting and I hope to start in earnest next week with the beginning of Bemidbar /Numbers, the fourth book of the Torah. I hope you enjoy these divrei torah ( Torah commentaries) and any further discussions and commentaries that may arise from them! Shabbat Shalom, Steven This week's parashah is Behukotai ( Vayikra /Leviticus 26:3-27:34). It is the final parashah in the book of Vayikra . In this parashah , God tells Moses to inform the people if they "walk with my statutes and observe my mitzvot /commandments," all will go well for them. However, if they do not, the heavens will dry up tragedy will befall them. The parashah then describes in detail what will happen if the people continue to ignore God's will. Though I don't take