Never, as long as I live, will I forget that moment, when the sounds of children’s laughter on a beautiful, peaceful Jerusalem afternoon were shattered by the screams of terror and agony that are the music for the dance of the suicide bomber. more

Tragedy has struck. Aharon’s two older sons are dead, victims of their own efforts in bringing a ‘strange fire’ into the Mishkan. Now their corpses must be removed from a room only their father and brothers may enter, yet these very people are the ones who are prevented from entering because they have a job to do, and responsibilities which can not fall by the wayside – the inevitable outcome of their becoming “tameh” through contact with the deceased. more

The untimely and completely supernatural death of Nadav and Avihu serves as one of the focal points of this week’s parasha. Nadav and Avihu were the sons of Aharon and Elisheva: “Aaron took to himself for a wife, Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.” more

I noticed the jeep in the distance almost immediately, raising a dust column you could see for miles. We were on maneuvers in the Negev desert, and there wasn’t anything else around but us, so we knew immediately the jeep had to be headed our way. Twenty minutes later the jeep pulled up and a man with colonel’s oak-leaves on his shoulders got out. Our commander jumped down for a hurried conference. We were happy for the brief respite; I was in the middle of tank commander’s course, and any break from the grind was always welcome. more

Overheard from a second grade rebbe: “If I don’t load the kids up with Pesach preparation, parents think they haven’t learned anything all year.” I don’t know if that is a truism across the board, if many parents think that way, or if just a minority take the Pesach prep as a reflection of the entire school year. But I think such a notion is antithetical to what Pesach is all about. We are doing it all backwards. more

Sometimes, heroes are the most ordinary people, who rise to the most extraordinary occasions. Like Noam Apter. Friday night: White tablecloths and china, the sweet light of the Shabbat candles, and the singing of Shalom Aleichem, a song of peace that begins every Shabbat dinner in every Jewish home. No matter where Jews have been, and how unwelcoming and challenging the world around them has been, they are still singing of peace on Friday nights. And this particular Friday night in the Yeshiva at Otniel was no different. Except that while the students of this yeshiva and their families were singing of peace, no one heard the silent click of wire cutters slicing through the security fence. more

A number of Midrashim pose the question (ascribed either to Rabbi Yoseh, Yosi, or Dosa), “Why do children begin learning the [Chumash] from the section about korbanot [offerings]?” And the answer is, “Because just as the korbanot are pure, so are the children pure.” more

You [Moshe] shall make a washstand (kiyor) of copper and its base of copper for washing, and you shall place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water therein. (Sefer Shemot 30:18) And he [Bezalel] made the washstand (hakiyor) of copper and its base of copper from the mirrors of the women who had set up the legions, who congregated at the entrance of the tent of meeting. (Ibid. 38:8) He [Moshe] placed the washstand (hakiyor) between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and there he put water for washing. more

With this week doubling as a (double) parsha plus Parshat HaChodesh, we find the coincidence of the date of “HaChodesh” making an appearance in the parsha - “On the day of the first new moon, on the first of the month, you will erect the Mishkan.” (40:2) Commentaries are struck by the seeming redundancy – why does the Torah say “on the first of the month” when that date is obvious based on the previous phrase in the verse? more

The term “Kodesh Kodashim” appears in the Torah 18 times – twice in Parshat Ki Tisa. However, not one of these times does it refer to the Holy of Holies, the section of the Mishkan/Tabernacle which houses the Aron/Ark. more