Parshat Behar 5782
Behar תשפ"ב The first verse in this week’s parsha, Behar (Leviticus 25:1), begins in a peculiar way. א) וַיְדַבֵּר יְדֹוָד אֶל משֶׁה בְּהַר סִינַי לֵאמֹר 1) And Hashem spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai saying. Why, here, does the…
You will Burn Ice!
Parshat Emor
The information in this essay is largely taken from an article called “What if we never run out of oil?” in The Atlantic magazine. You will burn ice. Not soon, but G-d willing, if you stick around for another decade…
Parshat Emor 5782
Parshat Emor תשפב In this week’s portion, Emor, the Torah (Leviticus 23:10) instructs us to bring the Omer barley sacrifice: (י) דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם וּקְצַרְתֶּם אֶת קְצִירָהּ וַהֲבֵאתֶם…
Stinky Gold
Parshat Kedoshim 5782
Fertilizer. It’s the stinkiest, dirtiest pile of blessing you can get your hands on. Laying fresh fertilizer on your field may not leave you looking like Mr. Clean, but it will make your crops look like they were taking whatever…
Parshat Kedoshim 5782
Kedoshim תשפב The third verse in this week’s portion Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:3) tells us: (ג) אִישׁ אִמּוֹ וְאָבִיו תִּירָאוּ וְאֶת שַׁבְּתֹתַי תִּשְׁמֹרוּ אֲנִי יְדֹוָד אֱלֹקֵיכֶם 3) Every man, your mother and father, you shall fear, and my Shabbats, you shall…
Can I get you some erbium with that?
Parshat Acharei Mot 5782
Natural resources are a hot topic right now, as the earth continues to fill with more people but not more resources. In the era of technological leaps and blindingly fast innovation, humans also seek more resources than ever before. In…
Acharei Mot 5782
Acharei Mot תשפב Last week we celebrated the Festival of Passover, commemorating the Jewish nation’s exodus from 210 years of Egyptian slavery. In this week’s portion, Acharei Mot, the Torah instructs us (Leviticus 18:3): (ג) כְּמַעֲשֵׂה אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם אֲשֶׁר יְשַׁבְתֶּם בָּהּ לֹא…