1 Behar (Leviticus 25, 1 – 26, 2) – the Jubilee year
The Torah reading of Behar opens with the laws of the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee (יובל). The Sabbatical year is every seventh year, and is to be “a Sabbath…
Emor (Leviticus 21, 1 – 24, 23) – the Jewish calendar
Chapter 23 of the Book of Leviticus stands out in the Hebrew Bible in importance - and, is known in the Jewish tradition as “the order of the appointed times”…
2 Kedoshim (Leviticus 19, 1 – 20, 27) – the concept of holiness as a legal and spiritual concept
Chapter 19 of the Book of Leviticus, the Holiness Chapter, stands out as one of the most important chapters in the Hebrew Bible. The chapter begins with a command addressed…
1 Kedoshim (Leviticus 19, 1 – 20, 27) – the Holiness Chapter
Chapter 19 of the Book of Leviticus, the Holiness Chapter, stands out as one of the most important chapters in the Hebrew Bible. The chapter begins with a command addressed…
Achrei Mot (Leviticus 16, 1 – 18, 30) – Homosexuality and the Bible
Strikingly, and contrary to what is widely and mistakenly believed, homosexuality is not seen as a sin, and is not discussed at all, in the Hebrew Bible. The Biblical prohibition…
Metzora (Leviticus 14, 1 – 15, 33) – Biblical leprosy and the evil tongue
The Torah readings of Tazria and Metzora are often read together in the Synagogue - and, a main subject of both Torah readings is leprosy although the Hebrew term (צרעת)…
What does it mean to walk in the ways of God?
In order to understand what it means in the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses) and the Hebrew Bible to walk in the ways of God (Deuteronomy 10, 12), we…
Tazria (Leviticus 12, 1 – 13, 59) – why a sin offering after the birth of a child?
The Torah reading of Tazria begins with laws relating to childbirth. Strikingly, a woman who gives birth to a son or daughter is to bring a sin offering - “she…
Shmini (Leviticus 9, 1 – 11, 47) – dietary laws
The Torah reading of Shmini contains dietary laws referred to in the Jewish tradition as laws of kashrut (from the Hebrew word kosher) - however, the term kosher does not…
The orthoprax nature of Biblical faith
In my book on the Hebrew Bible, Reconciling a Contradictory Abraham, I argue that, in spite of the enormous influence of the Hebrew Bible upon western culture, the Hebrew Bible…