Mindful Torah...and more

This  week's parashah, Hukkat  (Bemidbar/Numbers 19:122:1),  begins with the description of the ritual slaughter of the red heifer by Eleazar the priest. The ashes of the heifer are then to be mixed together with water, hyssop, crimson thread and other ingredients in order to make a solution that will be used to purify those who have becometamei/ritually impure (for lack of a better translation) through contact with a corpse. Following the description of the ritual slaughter of the red heifer, we read of the death of Miriam the prophet, sister of Moses and Aaron. Immediately following her death the people cry out to Moses that they have no water to drink This passage is most likely the origin of the ancient rabbinic legend of Miriam’s Well, that sustained the people through their years in the desert and dried up following Miriam’s death. As the people cry out to the bereaved Moses and Aaron for water, God instructs them to speak to a rock...

This week’s parashah /portion is Korakh ( Numbers/ Be’midbar 16:1-18:32).  The parashah contains within it the revolt against Moses’s leadership led by his cousin Korakh , along with Datan and Abiram .     These three, and their followers, challenge Moses and Aaron claiming that everyone is holy.   Unfortunately, their revolt was led by ego and hubris rather than by any belief in egalitarianism, and so the earth swallowed as a punishment.   On the following day, Moses is told to take a staff from the leaders of all the tribes, with Aaron representing the tribe of Levi, and to place them in the ground inside the Mishkan/Tabernacle.   On the next day they return and Aaron’s staff that has sprouted blossoms and almonds to symbolize his and his descendants chosen stature as High Priest.   These images form the basis of this poetic commentary on the parashah . blossoming from darkness to light I am here   in darkness why ...

In this week's parashah/portion, Shelah-Lekha (Bemidbar/Numbers 13:1-15:41), Moses, at God's command, chooses one leader from each of the twelve tribes to serve as spies. Their mission is to enter the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, and bring back a report about the land to the people. "See what kind of country it is.....investigate its cities, people, soil, and forests, and bring back some of the fruit of the land,” they are told. When they return, they do bring back huge bunches of grapes and other fruits, but ten of the twelve spies also bring back a report that, though the land is flowing "with milk and honey," it is filled with large fortified cities, "giants" so huge that they made the 10 spies feel “like grasshoppers.” Only two of the spies, Yehoshua /Joshua and Calev / Caleb, bring back a positive report and remind the people that God is with them, and so they can overcome any obstacle or enemy. Unfortunately, the people are carried...