my apologies

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Mistakes do happen. I accidentally posted a commentary for last week's Torah portion earlier today instead of this week's. please accept my apologies . I hope you will find this one enlightening anyway. Pun intended :-)
shabbat shalom

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Commentary on Parshat Tzav

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This week's torah portion is Tzav ( Vayikra /Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36). In it the detailed descriptions of the various sacrifices to be offered continues. I would like to focus on one particular sacrifice and what we might learn from it today. The final sacrifice mentioned in the parashah is the zevakh shelamim . This is usually translated as the "peace offering" or "good-will offering.” The word shelamim comes from the same root as shalom /peace and shalem /whole. One contemporary understanding of this sacrifice is as an offering of greeting. According to Baruch Levine and other scholars, it was a meal shared between the priests, the people who brought the offering and God. In other words, through sharing a sacred meal there was a connection being made between the people, the priests and the Divine. Not only was this a meal of greeting, but the sharing of the sacrificial animal could also bring a sense of peace and wholeness that was a direct result ...
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Psalm for Thursday: Psalm 81, vs. 3

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Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. After the violent and difficult verse from yesterday's psalm, today's is a pleasant sight! This is clearly a psalm of joy.  It has always amazed me how many words there are for joy or celebrate in Hebrew, as well as in English and other languages.  Many of these words are found in the psalms and other biblical texts.  But today's verse is not simply about the need to celebrate, but intructions are given.  And these tell us that the Levites had quit an orchestra  all those years ago.  For they were the ones who would sing the psalms as part of the rituals that included animal sacrifices as well as other sacrifices and offerings to God.  And so, just as animals were being slaughtered and burned and blood was being sprinkled on the altar, so too the Levites were singing and playing their instruments.  Both song and sacrifice were part of the effort to praise and thank God in this ...
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Psalm for Sunday: Psalm 24, Vs. 5

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