Hi!

Hope you all had a great week. I went camping! Although the “great outdoors” are not so great to me, I still had a really nice time!

So down to business: What’s this week’s parsha?

This week, we read parshat Emor. The parsha begins saying that a kohen (priest) must always remain pure. In order to be pure, a kohen cannot come close to a dead body. He can only attend the funeral of his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister. The parsha also talks about the special days of the Jewish calendar. It begins with talking about Shabbat, then goes on to other special times in the Jewish year, such as the holidays of Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. The parsha ends off that someone curses Hashem, and Moshe asks Hashem what the punishment should be. Hashem commands that the person should be killed. Also, a person who kills someone else must be killed, and a person who hurts someone else or someone’s animal must pay for the costs (like the doctor’s bill).

There’s a question (as always!): What relevance do the holidays have to our life today? Do we celebrate them just to remember the past, or is there something from these holidays to learn and apply to our lives?

And as there is always a question, there is always an answer: Yes, one reason we celebrate the holidays is to remember the past. Yet when we see all the great things Hashem did for the Jewish people, all the times he saved them from trouble and protected them, we realize how amazing Hashem’s power is, and we are grateful to him. Our emunah (faith) in Hashem is strengthened.

As there is always a question and always an answer, there’s also always an ending question for YOU to comment on: What is your favorite Torah story that shows Hashem’s great power?

Have a great week!

<3 Tamar