Hanukkah is not one of the biblical feasts or festivals that is prescribed in the Torah, like Sukkot, Shavuot, or Passover. It is a tradition started by the sages. The story of Hanukkah actually comes from the First Book of Maccabees. That is not part of the Hebrew Cannon, just like it is not part…
Theodore Herzl, the father of political Zionism, was Jewish by birth but he had zero Jewish education. He was born in Budapest, the son of rather wealthy but non-religious Jewish parents. They eventually moved to Vienna. His parents sought to fully assimilate Theodore and although they never actually converted they did not give him a…
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the second annual Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem. Hosted by the Government Press Office, the four-day event brought together 130 pro-Israel Christian media figures from 30 countries. The goal of the summit was to strengthen cooperation between Israel and Christian communities. In some ways, it…
On March 20, 1952, Henri de Contenson, a young French scholar, mounted an expedition to scout desert terraces and cliffs in the Judean desert. They were looking for Dead Sea Scrolls. They were racing against the illicit Bedouin excavations by basically using their own team of hired Bedouin. The expedition was sponsored by the Jordanian…
This week’s Torah portion covers Deuteronomy 7:12 to 11:25. The Israelites are still camped on the opposite side of Jordan, poised for entrance into the land. But these are Moses’ last moments with his people; these are his last words, his parting wisdom. Moses summarizes the last forty years, all of their highs and lows.…
This week’s Torah portion covers Numbers 8:1 to 12:16. It begins with divine instructions on how to care for the Tabernacle’s golden seven-branched lampstand, maintaining its everlasting light. It continues with guidelines for consecrating the Levites. At this point in Numbers, it has been exactly a year since the former slaves left Egypt so they…
This week our Torah portion covers Leviticus 21:1 to 24:23. The section is called “emor” which means “speak.” The Bible moves from the sanctification of the people to the sanctification of time. The chapter lays out the appointed festivals, the rhythm that would sustain Jewish memory for the rest of time. The sacred calendar includes…
This week marks our 22nd Torah portion in the annual reading cycle. The text covers Exodus 35:1 to the end of the book. The portion is almost a copy of what we already read back in Exodus 25. Both sections expound on the minutia of the Tabernacle structure and its furnishings. The main difference is…