Chodesh Tov! This week's parsha is a double Parsha: Tazria and Metzorah. During a leap year, these portions would be split over two weeks. This year however, we will read both in one sitting. The main topic of these portions is the idea of purity which is incredibly important to our narrative (there is no escaping this). Now this is evident in these portions in two categories: a. Spiritual b. Health (physical) The first category is dealt with in typical biblical style. An

Salutations! In this week's email, we will examine the way in which the Torah suggests that leaders should act in times of trouble. Let's set the scene. Aharon and his sons have been anointed as priests and are being instructed in what to do in the Mishkan to ensure all of the processes are exact and precisely what God ordered. Upon being inducted into the service of God, two of Aharon's sons die in a freak korban accident. Nadav and Avihu, choked by the very essence they w

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach all! We are in the midst of a very busy time. Not only do we have our annual ShnatSem and HadSem in Melbourne and Sydney respectively, but we also find ourselves in the middle of celebrating the process of the Exodus. The eight days of Pesach are the eight days of Exodus and escape from Egypt and so whilst we celebrate Seder on day one and two, in reality, the celebrations continue for a while longer. This week's portion digresses from the

Greeting, With the cleaning and scrubbing well underway, Pesach is inching closer and closer. Traditionally, the Shabbat before Pesach is called Shabbat Hagadol, the Grand Shabbat. We have already explored four (4) special Shabbatot, however, these belonged to a certain category in which a special maftir was added. The other type of special Shabbat is one in which a particular Haftorah is read. Shabbat Hagadol falls under the latter category. The name Shabbat Hagadol is der