Shabbat VaYikra: Calling It

וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר׃ יהוה called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying (Lev. 1.1) Vayikra is the first word of our parasha, and of the third book of the Torah, called Leviticus in English. It comes after the customary gap in the Torah scroll of several blank lines which serve to separate book from book.

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/03/19/shabbat-vayikra-calling-it/

Shabbat VaYakhel-Pekudey:

"'Where is the dwelling of G*d?' This is the question with which the Rabbi of Kotzk surprised a number of learned scholars who happened to be visiting him. They laughed at him: 'What a thing to ask! Is not the whole world full of G*d's glory?' Then he answered his own question: 'G*d dwells wherever we let G*d in' (Martin Buber, …

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/03/13/shabbat-vayakhel-pekudey/

Some things are best left unremembered; some things must never be forgotten.

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/02/27/shabbat-zakhor-remember-to-forget-what/

Shabbat Terumah: Just a Bit

וְהַכְּלָל, כִּי אָסוּר לְיָאֵשׁ The rule is: it is forbidden to despair - Likkutei Mohoran II.78.7.1 We are in the month of Adar, the month of which our tradition says משנכנס אדר מרבים שמחה - "when the month of Adar enters, joy increases" (Ta'anit 29a.18) Note here that, despite what we often say, the obligation here is not to be joyful, but to increase joy.

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/02/20/shabbat-terumah-just-a-bit/

Shabbat Shekalim 5786: In The Balance

Bronze balance pans and lead weights, Vapheio tholos tomb, Laconia. Late Helladic (LH) II (15th c. BCE) National Museum, Athens הֶֽעָשִׁ֣יר לֹֽא־יַרְבֶּ֗ה וְהַדַּל֙ לֹ֣א יַמְעִ֔יט מִֽמַּחֲצִ֖ית הַשָּׁ֑קֶל לָתֵת֙ אֶת־תְּרוּמַ֣ת ה' לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶֽםthe rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than half a shekel when giving an  offering to HaShem to atone for your souls.

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/02/13/shabbat-shekalim-5786-in-the-balance/

Shabbat Yitro: What Does the Voice of G*d sound like?

וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֵ֛ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לֵאמֹֽר God spoke all these words, saying (Exodus 20.1) What does the voice of G*d sound like? One opinion out of Jewish tradition is that we cannot handle hearing the actual voice of HaShem. Literally, hearing the Voice of G*d is insupportable in human terms: “the Israelites' souls departed from them when G'd spoke ….according to the Midrash the remainder of the Ten Commandments remained engraved in fire on top of Mount Sinai until G'd had revived the Israelites with the dew of life.

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/02/06/shabbat-yitro-what-does-the-voice-of-gd-sound-like/

Shabbat BeShalakh 5786: What It Takes to Leave Egypt

Evil consists in ruining someone else’s life rather than examining one’s own. - M Scott Peck, People of the Lie As we follow Torah’s narrative of the Israelite escape from Egypt, this week’s parashah relates a tense, utterly human moment. It’s the well-known sense that often sets in immediately after one takes an irrevocable step, that the step was absolutely…

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/01/30/shabbat-beshalakh-5786-what-it-takes-to-leave-egypt/

Shabbat Bo: No One Should Suffer; No One

שלא היה רוצה הקב"ה שיהיה פרעה בעינוי וצער לפניו the Holy Blessed One did not want Pharaoh to suffer - Gur Aryeh Ex.10.3 Our parashat hashavua brings us to the midst of plagues and confrontations. The suffering of the Egyptian people is increasing, and for whatever reason (conspiracy theories? miracles? scientific cause and effect? the effort of the human brain to make sense of reality is perennial) the blows against the economy, agriculture and society are now being blamed on Pharaoh's unwillingness to let go of his slaves.

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/01/23/shabbat-bo-no-one-should-suffer-no-one/

VaEra 5786: We Will Be What We Will Be

In this week's parashah HaShem and Moshe meet. HaShem reveals the divine essence in a mysterious phrase: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, which can be translated in many ways that all can be summarized as Being. Since ancient Hebrew did not express the idea of tense the way we expect in modern language, it's possible that the single word אהיה Ehyeh can mean will be, was, or is.

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/01/16/vaera-5786-we-will-be-what-we-will-be/

Shabbat Shemot: Standing up to Pharaoh

Renee Good: may her memory be a blessing "Tank Man" temporarily stops the advance of four Type 59 tanks on June 5, 1989, in Beijing. This photograph (one of six similar versions) was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press. (Wikipedia) וַיָּ֥קׇם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. - …

http://rabbiariel.net/2026/01/08/shabbat-shemot-standing-up-to-pharaoh/