At the end of Parshat Shmini we learn about the types of animals which are permitted and forbidden to eat. We are told in Vayikra 11:43-45:Do not make yourselves abominable by means of any teeming thing; do not contaminate yourselves through them lest you become...
In Parshat Shmini we learn about which animals are kosher and which animals are not. What is the Torah’s view on eating meat?After Adam and Chava were created (Breisheet 1:28-30) they were told:God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and...
Israelis eat more turkey per capita than residents of any country in the world (probably due to the large number of schwarma stands and the readily available lunch meats) so how can we even think that turkey may not be kosher?In Parshat Shmini (Vayikra 11:13-19),...
In Parshat Shmini we read about animals which are classified as kosher as well as animals that are not kosher. The name of one of the non kosher birds, chasida (righteous), most probably the Ciconia, stork is surprising.Rashi asks why it is called chasida and...
Locusts are on our minds lately. We just finished reading about the plague at the Pesach seder and now we are hearing about swarms of locusts that are attacking Africa. To top it off, in Parsha Shmini, locusts are listed as kosher!In Vayikra, 11:21-22 we read...
In Parshat Shmini, we learn about the laws of keeping kosher by being presented with a list of which animals we are allowed to eat based on the characteristics of the animal (the animal must have both a split hoof and chew its cud, the fish must have fins and...
Sponsored by the Sports Rabbi, Josh Halickman’s United States April Speaking Tour If you would like him to speak in your community contact sportsrabbi9@gmail.comIn Parshat Shmini, we are informed of which animals are kosher and which are not. The...
The first pasuk of Parshat Shmini states: “And it was on the eighth day that Moshe called to Aharon and to his sons and to the Zkenim (Elders of Israel).” If God was commanding Aharon to bring the Korbanot (offerings), then why was it necessary for...
In Parshat Acharei Mot (Vayikra 18:5) we are commanded: “You shall observe My decrees (chukotai) and My laws (mishpatai), which man shall carry out and by which he shall live (vachai bahem)- I am God.” According to Ramban, “vachai...
Parshat Shmini (Vayikra 9:1) which talks about the dedication of the Mishkan begins with the word “Vayehi” (And it was). “And it was on the eighth day (bayom haShmini) that Moshe called to Aharon and to his sons and to the elders of...
I was in the middle of teaching a Hrebrew class in Parshat HaShavua at a Jerusalem nursing home this past week when all of a sudden one of the women stopped me and asked me why I was talking about Jewish people not being allowed to eat a “tazav”,...
Parshat Shmini begins with the deaths of Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu who sacrificed a strange fire. In Shmot 10:6 “Moshe said to Aharon and to Elazar and Itamar his sons: ‘Do not let your hair grow long and do not tear your garments so...
In the beginning of Parshat Shmini, on the eighth day of the installation of the Mishkan (tabernacle), Moshe commands Aharon to bring a Korban Chatat, a sin offering of a young calf (egel).Rashi explains that this is to let Aharon know that God forgave him by means...
A few years ago a Seattle doctor came up with the theory that Mozart, who died in 1791 at age 35, died from trichinosis, a disease caused by eating uncooked pork. How does this doctor know that Mozart ate pork? In a letter written by Mozart a few weeks before he...
After the death of Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, God commands Aharon (Vayikra 10:9) “Do not drink wine or any other intoxicant, you and your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting and you will not die; this is an everlasting statute (chok)...