Ze’ev Wilhelm Falk was a professor of law at Hebrew University who also served as rector and faculty at the Schechter institute in Jerusalem. Born in Breslau in 1923, he fled Germany alone at 16, arriving in Israel in 1939, and went on to study in the Hevron yeshivah and then at Hebrew University. He…
Category: Shmini
Stupid Anger: Shmini/Parah 5779
Anger is often an understandable reaction, and yet it can be one of the most destructive and debilitating of emotions. It is hard to imagine how Moses feels when his two nephews Nadav and Avihu are struck dead in the middle of the inaugural service for the tabernacle. Guilty? Terrified? Shocked? All of these, I…
Drinking on the Job, Playing with Fire: Shmini 5778
I recently had the privilege to respond to a lecture delivered at JTS by Seth Waxman, the former US Solicitor to the Supreme Court. He presented three current cases, one of which (McCoy vs. Louisiana) he himself argued, in his 80th appearance before the court. Afterwards we continued his discussion of halakhic principles at stake…
Ostrich Eggs and Miracle Meat: Shmini 5777
It might have been Parashat Shmini that put the idea of becoming a rabbi in my head. No, not the part about the two young priests getting zapped, but rather the detailed laws of kashrut. I grew up eating “glatt treife,” but by the time I was 13 I bought into the kashrut system as…
Don’t be Cowed–Shabbat Shmini/Parah 5776
Shabbat Parah, Cow Shabbat, is one of our more perplexing customs. We chant the passage describing the red heifer ritual in Numbers 19, and then read Ezekiel’s prophecy of a re-purification of Israel, which has been sullied in exile, and which will now receive a new heart and new spirit, returning them to their land…
The Body and Soul of Kashrut: Shmini 5775
I recently booked that rare flight which offers menu options, and was curious to peruse the fourteen choices currently available: Kosher, Asian Vegetarian, Dairy Vegetarian, Low cal/chol/fat, Vegetarian Non-Dairy, Hindu, Halal, Low Sodium, Gluten Free, Diabetic, Toddler, Child, Baby, and… Bland. My experience of airplane food is that it is always bland, but I suppose they are capable…
Sacred BBQ: Shmini/Parah 5774
Spring has arrived, and with it the smell of sacred BBQ. I don’t mean that literally, especially with so many vegetarians in our community, but the confluence of Parshat Shmini and Shabbat Parah means that there is a great deal of attention paid to the selection, slaughter, sacrifice and eating of animals. Chapter 11 of…
Rabbi Danny Nevins 