[Who is the “native-born” and who is the “sojourner”?   Since the Torah was given in the context of a Covenant between the people of Israel and YHWH, there should be no question that the “native-born” is the Israelite while the “sojourner” is the non-Israelite.  It was a mixed multitude of slaves who left Egypt […]

 [Translation is by EF/Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses; commentary from P&H/Pentateuch & Haftorahs, ed. Dr. J.H.Hertz.—Admin1.] 1-9.  REGULATIONS FOR PRIESTS WHO SHARE IN A SACRIFICIAL FEAST The last Chapter dealt with the bodily defects that disqualify the priest from officiating in the Sanctuary; this section insists on physical purity as the condition in which alone he […]

[Continuing our commentary from Pentateuch and Haftarahs, our MUST READ and MUST OWN Resource Book, we now reach the regulations concerning priests and the Sanctuary.     Remember that the priesthood of Israel is from the tribe of Levi. It is speculated that Jews today bearing the name ‘Cohen’ which is Hebrew for ‘priest’ might trace their […]

[Those of us reading these chapters today will naturally wonder what is the connection of these commandments to us?  Do we indulge in “Molech worship” or “necromancy” or any of the “abominable” practices that these pagan idolatrous nations indulged in?     We might better think this way:  are there modern equivalents to the cultural […]

[Pentateuch & Haftorah [P&H] give this title to this chapter:  PROHIBITION OF — UNLAWFUL MARRIAGES, UNCHASTITY, and MOLECH WORSHIP And rightly so.  If the previous chapters have been dealing with ‘ritual uncleanness’ related to being bodily or physically fit for tabernacle/temple worship, this chapter deals with ‘moral uncleanness’ (lifestyle) and its punishment. The relationship between individuals […]

[The Temple sacrificial system remains a curiosity for ex-Christians, specifically to us, Sinaites. If it is not at all intended to point to the supreme sacrifice by God-Man Mediator Jesus Christ who sheds his blood for the salvation of all mankind (according to Christian theology),  then what were the animal sacrifices all about?   Why would […]

 [I was tempted to post these chapters without any comment and echoed a title I had previously used in Exodus/Shemoth 35-39: Do we have to read these chapters?    When you start reading through, you will understand why; it reads like a medical student’s textbook about excreted body fluids after childbirth that are considered impure; and […]

Would the Author of TORAH leave out an area of human life that would not only enhance the quality of life but also extend the quantity of life?  YHWH is the Source of Life, would He not include instructions about how to best sustain life, specially human life?     “Let thy food be thy […]

[What in the world is ‘fire’ that is —- “outside” fire [EF] or “alien”[AST]   “strange” [NASB] This is one time that the Christian translator’s choice of “unauthorized” [NIV] fire makes more sense. Possibly, it refers to some deviation from the exact instructions on how to prepare or handle or put the right portion of […]

[The obvious questions we should be asking by this time are:  if YHWH devoted a whole book-length on instructions regarding the Tabernacle, the Levitical Priesthood that would take care of it and the offerings/sacrifices (animal and produce)—- why are we—who are living in this day and age—-no longer fulfilling these requirements?   Were they simply […]