Tazria
Birth is a pure soul descending into an impure earth to purify the world.
The laws of purity and impurity may be summed up like this: the closer an experience is to the Source, the purer it is; the more distant, the more impure it gets. Birth is separating a soul from its natural habitat; no simple task. A mother immerses in pools of purity; offerings are brought. Male children are circumcised on the eighth day. When a spiritual flaw manifests upon a physical canvas, it is called “tzaraat.” Then the diagnostic expert is called in, the Kohen, proclaiming it pure or impure. One with “tzaraat” must remain outside of the camp; clothing with “tzaraat” must be destroyed.
Displaced Persons
An excerpt from a letter by the Rebbe exploring the question of who we truly are beneath the surface.
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His Daughter’s Son
The story of the Tzemach Tzedek’s unexpected ascension to leadership of the Chabad community.
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Forty Nine Days Between Passover and Shavuot
From Passover to Shavuot, we conduct a daily count of the days and weeks in reenactment of the forty-nine-day process of self-refinement which our ancestors underwent from their exodus from Egypt on the first day of Passover to the revelation at Sinai on Shavuot.
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The Runaway Soul
How tzaraat is related to Chassidic teaching that the human soul is driven by two contrary forces: the drive to “run” or escape (ratzo), and the drive to settle (shov).
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G-d on the Moon
The moon’s greatness—her capacity to receive—is born of a sense of diminution and insufficiency.
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Forty Nine Days
Counting the Omer: Each of these days becomes a component of our reborn selves, as we internalize the freedom obtained at the Exodus as the essence of our commitment to G-d as His chosen people.
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Tazria: Bad Religious Experiences Part 2
With the breakdown of authority, it is absolutely critical to ensure that each of us “own” our choices; that the path of faith become your path, not someone else’s.
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Tazria-Metzora: Greater Expectations
Though things seem chaotic and confusing we have the ability to sort everything and find clarity bringing us to greater results than we could’ve imagined.
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Tazria-Metzora: Divine Containers
The world increasingly witnesses a union of form and function and spirit and matter. This concept is examined through the lens of kabbalah and Chassidus.
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Tazria: Divine Wrath
Understanding the apparent abundance of violence and anger in the Torah requires one to gain deeper insight into its literal and symbolic dimensions.
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