We find ourselves in the midst of the Torah's beginning cycles -- somewhere between reading about 'Noah and the Flood' on the one hand and Abraham and the challenges he meets on the other.  It is of special interest to us that Noah is depicted in such superlative terms, especially in that his … [Read more...]

David Takes a Census 1 Chronicles 21 (parallel text: 2 Samuel 24) Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the people of Israel—from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the … [Read more...]

So, in essence, this Haftarah -- of the day before the new moon -- is the Story of David and Jonathan . . . and here is a brief set up, before the haftarah begins: David runs to Jonathan. “Jonathan, your father is still trying to kill me.” The haftarah starts here: “Tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh. … [Read more...]

Although Hoshana Raba may technically be the “last day of Sukkot, the Rabbis (not the Rabbis of the Talmud, rather much later, the Rabbis called ‘the Geonim,’ (< -- yes, they were the Babylonian rabbis) decided to treat Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah as part of Sukkot. Essentially, they … [Read more...]