helping you make Torah the heart of your home
If you are relatively new to keeping Torah, you may have heard of Torah portions, but aren’t really sure what they are. This post will give you a basic understanding of Torah portions, and how you can use them to build a solid spiritual foundation in your home. What are
Therefore, pray in this way: ‘Our Father in heaven, sanctified be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not
My brain is a very active place. It buzzes with ideas, chews on recent events, even occasionally worries about the future. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an introvert, or if everyone’s brain is like a beehive. I’m very happy most days living in my head, but on Shabbat,
Sometimes we get so caught up in technology that we lose the charm of the old-fashioned way of doing things. In an era where email is the standard, getting an actual card in the mail is a rare treasure. Today, I’d like to encourage you to return to the old-fashioned
We are instructed in Scripture to count 50 days from the Shabbat during Feast of Unleavened Bread to the next feast day, which is Shavuot! Shavuot is also called the Feast of Weeks, which makes perfect sense, since we count 7 full weeks, and celebrate on the following day. This
We’ve all been there. We learn about the Torah and how all of Scripture stills applies. We learn that we need to keep the Sabbath on the seventh day. Then we hear about this thing called Preparation Day. At first glance, and even after trying to keep Shabbat for weeks
When I was younger, I taught Sunday school. Each week, I welcomed a rambunctious group of third and fourth graders into my little classroom. I had colorful posters, object lessons, memory verse games, and storytelling. I don’t go to that much effort now, but my husband and I have established
I came across this prayer in Philip Goodman’s “The Yom Kippur Anthology.” I read it aloud on Yom Kippur and barely got through it because I was crying so hard. It is quite a lengthy prayer, but has a way of putting us face to face with our sin, and
I used to have a much different view of healing than I do now. Thanks to exposure to certain teachers, I believed that physical ailments were a direct result of my sin. Healing could be acquired by repenting of my sins and praying with full belief that God could heal
Welcome to Torah portion Beresheet Beresheet means In the beginning. Scripture passage: Genesis 1:1-6:8 Read Aloud from My First Torah In the beginning, Elohim made the heavens and the earth. He made everything by just speaking. He made everything in six days. On day one, He made light and dark.
Welcome to Torah portion Ki Tavo Ki Tavo means When you come in. Scripture passage: Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8 Read Aloud from My First Torah Moses continued to prepare the people for going into the Promised Land. He told them about firstfruits and tithes. Firstfruits is when they take the very first
Welcome to Torah portion Shoftim Shoftim means Judges. Scripture passage: Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9 Read Aloud from My First Torah Torah teaches us much about how to live right. Torah also shows us how a country would look if everyone obeyed Torah. First, it would be a country where everyone is treated
Welcome to Torah portion Re’eh Re’eh means See. Scripture passage: Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 Read Aloud from My First Torah Moses continued to teach the people to prepare them for going into the Promised Land. They were to destroy the altars and holy places of other gods. They were to worship and
Welcome to Torah portion Ekev Ekev means Consequence. Scripture passage: Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25 Read Aloud from My First Torah Moses reminded the people that when they obey, YHVH blesses them. YHVH made a covenant, a promise, with them. He would love and bless them. He would give them many children. He
Welcome to Torah portion Vaetchanan Vaetchanan means And I pleaded. Scripture passage: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 Read Aloud from My First Torah Moses continued to teach the people to prepare them for going into the Promised Land. He told them that he would not be going because he had lost his temper
Welcome to Torah portion Devarim Devarim means words. Scripture passage: Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 Read Aloud from My First Torah The Children of Israel were now by the Jordan River waiting to cross over and enter the Promised Land. Moses knew he would not be going with them. He wanted to talk
Welcome to Torah portions Mattot and Massei Mattot means Tribes and Massei means Journeys Scripture passage: Numbers 30:2-36:13 Read Aloud from My First Torah YHVH always does what He says. He expects us to always do what we say. He has special rules for women. When a young girl makes
Welcome to Torah portion Pinchas Pinchas means Phinehas Scripture passage: Numbers 25:10-30:1 Read Aloud from My First Torah Phinehas did the right thing by killing the wicked people in the camp. Because he obeyed YHVH, YHVH made a covenant with him and his descendants. They would always serve as priests.
Welcome to Torah portion Balak Balak means Balak 🙂 Scripture passage: Numbers 22:2-25:9 Read Aloud from My First Torah The Children of Israel camped near Moab. Balak, the king of Moab, and all the Moabites were very fearful of Israel. So Balak sent a message to Balaam, asking him to
Welcome to Torah portion Chukat Chukat means Statute Scripture passage: Numbers 19:1-22:1 Read Aloud from My First Torah YHVH had explained to the people that some things make a person unclean, like touching a dead body. Touching a dead body was not sinful, but the person needed to be cleaned