The mind of the midrashist drifts effortlessly over the face of the Tanakh as verses from the Torah conjure up similar verses and phrases from other sacred books. Thus, our parasha’s descriptions of ...

There is a serious disagreement between Rashi and Ramban about when the charge to Moshe to inaugurate the Kohanim in this week’s parsha occurred. According to Rashi, the Torah goes backwards seven ...

Where is God, and what does the Holy One want from us? These timeless questions animate so many of us spiritual seekers. Of course, there are better places to look for an answer than in this week’s ...

Parshat Tzav informs us that the priests’ first task of the day was to remove the ashes from the offering sacrificed the previous day (Leviticus 6:3). Is there any significance to this being the ...

The portion of Tzav continues its discussion of the sacrificial service. Nachmanides explains that while the previous portion, Vayikra, focuses on the Jews who bring the sacrifice, as the Torah states ...

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Many commentators grapple with the harshness of the punishment meted out to Nadav and Avihu. Some explain the severity of God’s punishment as situational. These commentators point out that it is the ...