Daily Devotionals
‘In These I Delight’
March 22, 2013 - 5:00 amThis week’s Haftorah can be seen as a warning clause attached to the week’s Torah reading that contained the instructions for serving God in the Temple. The Torah reading described all of the sacrifices that could be brought to God and the closeness that man could achieve with God. But in the Haftorah reading, we discover that the whole system had become corrupted. Read more…
The Original Thanksgiving
March 21, 2013 - 5:00 amAccording to Jewish tradition, when the Holy Temple is rebuilt, none of the sacrifices outlined in Leviticus will be offered anymore – except for one: The thanksgiving offering. The Sages continue to explain that none of the prayers we say now will be said in the future either – except for one: The thanksgiving prayer. Read more…
Cover Up
March 20, 2013 - 6:18 pmIf you’ve ever seen a picture of a Sabbath table, you may have noticed that among the wine and candles is special bread called challah. You may have also noticed that the challah is always covered by a pretty cloth. Have you ever wondered why? Read more…
The Humble Heart
March 19, 2013 - 6:17 pmThe Torah portion of Tzav begins with a commandment to leave the burnt offering, in Hebrew known as the olah, burning on the altar all night long. In the morning it would be dust and ashes. However, the Sages teach an alternate reading of the verse — one that leaves us with a profound message for our lives today, long after the priests performed their holy services in the Temple. Read more…
Catch the Flame
March 18, 2013 - 6:16 pmThis week’s Torah portion is called Tzav which means “command.” It comes from the second verse of the reading: “Give Aaron and his sons this command . . .” This reading is about the laws of the service of the priests – Aaron and his descendants. Read more…
Rags to Riches
March 17, 2013 - 6:16 pmPeople love rags-to-riches stories . . . It gives us hope that if life can change so dramatically for one person, then maybe our life can change as well. While we try to believe that anything is possible with God, nothing is quite as reassuring as seeing His hand in action! Read more…
Weary for God
March 15, 2013 - 5:00 amI have a friend who used to say that there are two kinds of tired. There’s good tired and bad tired. Bad tired is when we feel overburdened and overworked. It’s the fatigue that comes with backbreaking labor or a restless night of sleep. We feel drained and maybe even depressed. Good tired, on the other hand, is the feeling of sleepiness but also a great sense of joy. It’s the kind of tired we feel after putting time and effort into the things we love –our family and friends, a great achievement, or even our work, if it’s something that speaks to our soul. Read more…
The Best YOU Can Be
March 14, 2013 - 8:07 pmMost sacrifices were directly prescribed by Scripture, but when it came to describing the sacrifice brought by the sinner, there was a sliding scale. Not everyone brought the same offering when they sinned against God. But the scale was not determined by the gravity of the committed sin; it was determined by the amount of money the person had. Read more…
Soul Offerings
March 13, 2013 - 8:06 pmMany different kinds of offering were brought to the Temple each day. Some were mandatory, others voluntary. Some sacrifices were animals, others were birds, and some, grain. But one sacrifice in particular was more beloved to God than all the others. That sacrifice was called the mincha sacrifice. It was a voluntary sacrifice made simply of grain and oil. Read more…
The Sacrifice Experience
March 12, 2013 - 8:06 pmAs people living in today’s society, it’s hard to relate to the worship practices of ancient societies, which revolved around bringing sacrifices to God, or in most cases, gods. It’s hard for us to imagine that burnt offerings were of any worth to the Almighty. Yet, here we clearly find in the Bible a commandment from God to bring Him animal sacrifices. Read more…
