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This is Torah Talk for the week of June 19th, 2022 Num. 14:10  As the whole community threatened to pelt them with stones, the Presence of the Lord appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. This week, two (seemingly) simple questions:  Who is “them” that the community is threatening to stone, and why does […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 12th, 2022 Num. 11:25    Then the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to him; He drew upon the spirit that was on him and put it upon the seventy elders. And when the spirit rested upon them, they spoke in ecstasy, but did […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 5th, 2022 Num. 7:89    When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the Voice addressing [מִדַּבֵּ֣ר] him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Pact between the two cherubim; thus He spoke […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 29th, 2022 Num. 1:18 On the first day of the second month they convoked the whole community, who were registered [וַיִּתְיַֽלְד֥וּ] by the clans of their ancestral houses—the names of those aged twenty years and over being listed head by head. Hapax legomenon? – you decide.  But what does […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 22nd, 2022 Lev. 26:23    And if these things fail to discipline you for Me, and you remain hostile to Me [וַהֲלַכְתֶּ֥ם עִמִּ֖י קֶֽרִי],  24 I too will remain hostile to you [וְהָלַכְתִּ֧י אַף־אֲנִ֛י עִמָּכֶ֖ם בְּקֶ֑רִי]: I in turn will smite you sevenfold for your sins. […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 15th, 2022 Lev. 25:31   But houses in villages that have no encircling walls [וּבָתֵּ֣י הַחֲצֵרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר אֵין־לָהֶ֤ם חֹמָה֙ סָבִ֔יב] shall be classed as open country. חצרים are villages that have no encircling walls – but a חצר (as in Leviticus 6) is an enclosure!  How can this […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 8th, 2022 Lev. 24:10   There came out among the Israelites [בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל] one whose mother was Israelite [יִשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית] and whose father was Egyptian. How do you say “Israelite” in Biblical Hebrew?  Amazingly, the nowadays common adjective יִשְׂרְאֵלִי appears nowhere else in the Bible but in this chapter!  But … why? This week’s […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 1st, 2022 Lev. 20:9    If anyone insults his father or his mother, he shall be put to death; he has insulted his father and his mother—his bloodguilt is upon him [דָּמָ֥יו בּֽוֹ]. Why does Leviticus 20 seem to repeat Leviticus 18, and how can we explain the […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of April 24th, 2022 Lev. 18:21             Do not allow any of your offspring to be offered up to Molech, and do not profane the name [וְלֹ֧א תְחַלֵּ֛ל אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם]  of your God: I am the Lord. What does “do not profane the name” mean, and why is this the […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of April 3rd, 2022 Lev. 15:1   The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying … But what the Lord says in v. 3 is different in 3 of the ancient versions from what the Masoretic Text tells us. This week’s handout: 28 Metzora 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for more links […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of March 27th, 2022 Lev. 13:2    When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of his body, it shall be reported to Aaron the priest or to one […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of March 20th, 2022 Lev. 9:24    Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. And all the people saw, and shouted, and fell on their faces … 2 And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them.   Is this […]