Posts tagged ‘במדבר’

Two Prayers for Matot-Masei 5777

Here are two prayers for this week’s double Torah reading: Matot-Masei. Matot stresses the sacredness of vows to God. They’re serious, solemn and binding. “Vows” portrays…

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Blood on Holy Ground

Spilling innocent blood defiles holy land. In this week’s double Torah reading, Matot-Masei, we read: “…for blood, it polluteth the land…” [Numbers 35:33] This is a…

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Pinchas: Mountain Prayer at Twilight

The death of Moses is foretold in this week’s parasha, Pinchas. When the time comes, Moses will ascend yet another mountain, see the land that he…

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Balak: Your Dwelling Place

Ma Tovu is one of my favorite prayers. The opening line comes from this week’s Torah portion, Balak. Balak hires Bil’am to curse the people Israel, but instead…

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Chukat: Living Waters

In Chukat, this week’s parasha, the prophet Miriam dies. After she’s buried, the scene abruptly shifts to the lack of water in the wilderness. We’re left…

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Korach: For Political Leadership

In this week’s Torah portion Moses and Aaron face a rebellion. It fails and the perpetrators are punished. This is a prayer for wise and dedicated…

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Shelach Lecha 5775: Gathering, A Dream of Reunion

This week’s Torah portion includes the commandment to wear tzitzit — fringes — on the corners of our garments (Numbers 15:37-41), which we fulfill with the tallit. The…

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Beha’alotcha 5775: Three Quick Prayers for Healing (Revised)

At the end of this week’s Torah portion, Moses says a quick five-word prayer for healing his sister Miriam: “Please G-d, heal her now.” (Numbers 12:13) Here are…

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Naso 5775: Place Your Name upon Us

This week’s parasha includes the Priestly Blessing, three lines of remarkable beauty and power. The line immediately after – a line that gets precious little attention…

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