Covered in Holiness Covered in Holiness In this week’s parsha, we encounter the holy task entrusted to the Levites as they cared for and transported the Mishkan/Tabernacle through the desert. The vessels had to be carefully wrapped and covered before they could be carried. The Torah is very protective of these sacred objects. They were not to be exposed unnecessarily or looked upon casually. Judaism teaches us that the holier something is, the more carefully it must be treated. Holiness...

Sinai and Ruth: A Story of Love and Kindness On Shavuot, we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai. But alongside the thunder and lightning and revelation, we also read one of the quietest stories in Tanach: the story of Ruth. Shavuot is not only about receiving the Torah. It is also about love and kindness. The Torah was given with love.G-d did not need us, yet He chose a relationship with us. The giving of the Torah was an act of divine love and closeness. And the Jewish people...

Becoming in the Wilderness The opening of Sefer Bamidbar places the Jewish people in a profound liminal space. They are no longer slaves in Egypt, but they are not yet living in the Promised Land. They exist in the in-between space, in the wilderness. Egypt was a place of constriction where they became enslaved. The wilderness was a place where their identity was reshaped, and they transitioned to become a free people. They worked hard to rid themselves from their slave mentality. Slaves can...