Parshat Va'eira תשפב This week’s portion’s opening two verses contain four different holy names of Hashem. (ב) וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹקִים אֶל משֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יְדֹוָד (ג) וָאֵרָא אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֶל יִצְחָק וְאֶל יַעֲקֹב בְּקֵל שַׁקָּי וּשְׁמִי יְדֹוָד לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם 2) Elo(k)him spoke to Moshe and…
Shemot תשפב This week begins the second book of the Torah, Shemot - Exodus, which opens with the Jewish people’s slavery and redemption from Egypt and concludes with the completion of the Tabernacle. As the story commences, Pharaoh had just decided to reduce…
By Tuesday afternoon I knew that I was in real trouble. What started out as a regular stomachache on Sunday morning, was now a constant searing pain inside my gut. Originally, I assumed it was the herring I ate on…
“Quit while you’re ahead” is one of the simple but wise rules of life. But for David Kime Jr., the rule was a bit different, it went something like this, “Don’t quit even when you’re dead.” David, a longtime resident…
Ki Tisa תשפא In this week’s parsha Ki Tisa, we meet the principal craftsman for the Tabernacle and all its accoutrements, Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur from the tribe of Judah. (Exodus 31:1-5) (א) וַיְדַבֵּר יְדֹוָד אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: (ב)…
Shira curled up on the hoverbed, eyes staring dreamily at the ceiling. Moments earlier, she had turned the dial on the ceiling control unit from Midnight Cloud to Crystal Clear, and as the electromagnetic filaments began to disappear and the…
In the Wild West there were all kinds of villains; thieves, desperados, barrel boarders, gadabouts, nibblers, ruffians, chiselers, shotes, and mops to name a few. But even in the Wild West, there was one group of people that were considered…