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"On the fourteenth day of the first month you shall have the Passover sacrifice; and during a festival of seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day, the prince shall provide a bull of purification offering on behalf of himself and of the entire population..." (Ezekiel 45:21-2) Read more...

A number of commentators have observed that there is an apparent logical problem in the opening of this week's parashah. The opening verses of Exodus, Chapter 35, are as follows: א) ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל ויאמר אלהם אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשת אתם  ב) ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש שבת שבתון לה' כל העשה בו מלאכה יומת  ג) לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם ביום השבת Read more...

There is a picture of my wife and me, taken almost twenty years ago when we were still dating, which I think of as a Jewish version of "Whistler's Mother." In this photograph we are standing in the classic Whistler's Mother position (though dressed in early 90s grad student casual rather than New England farmer) but instead of a farm implement I am holding several wooden dowels which are attached to many lengths of string. The picture was taken at the end of a weekend campout at the Vermont redoubt of the Bread and Puppet Theatre. Read more...

The movement from last week's Torah portion to this week's Torah portion seems to me quite abrupt and hastened when you think of moving from a golden calf to a mishkan / tabernacle made of elements gold and silver and the most magnificent fabrics. I would have thought that more than anything there would be fear and trepidation in the attempt to create anything concrete that had to do with God's manifestation in the world. Read more...

Here's something that is probably impossible to fathom and even a little hard to swallow. Imagine working for a non-profit and making a desperate pitch for funds to build your organization or to keep it afloat. The money and materials start coming in...and do not stop. At a certain point you simply cannot handle the intake and realize you could never use it all. What do you do? Tell people to stop, right? Wait, really? Would you do that? Read more...