Talking Torah
Reading from the Torah
The Torah is read on weekdays, Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the new Hebrew month) Rosh Hashana and the holidays of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot then, Yom Kippur and finally, Shabbat. Each one of these occasions is marked by a different number of aliyot that we read. For example...
The Honor of Reciting the Torah Blessings: An Aliyah
The honor of standing next to the Torah and reciting the blessings is called an aliyah (plural, aliyot), Aliyah means “going up.” The word “aliyah” has both a spiritual and physical connation in that the person is physically going up to the Torah – usually on a bimah – and is also “uplifted” by his/her ascent. The privilege of having an aliyah is reserved for one who has reached bar/bat mitzvah age...
Torah Reading - First Day of Rosh Hashana, Genesis 21
Before we can begin to understand the Torah reading for today, we need to know that God tested Abraham 10 times. Like a Disney movie, today’s story begins auspiciously. Sarah, at age 90, bears a long-awaited child to Abraham, age 100! Abraham and Sarah celebrate the birth of Isaac (Yitzhak/יצחק) by circumcising him at eight days in fulfillment of God’s command...
Dvar Torah for 2nd Day of Rosh Hashana: Genesis 22 – The Binding of Isaac
At the beginning of our Torah reading today, we are told that Abraham was tested by God and commanded to take his beloved son, Isaac, to “a place that he will be shown” . This place, we soon learn is Mt. Moriah, later to become the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. What options did Abraham have in response to this command?...