Introduction from the Book
אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן אוֹמֵר לְמשֶׁה אֲנִי גָּדוֹל מִמְּךָ שֶׁנִּבְרֵאתִי בְּצַלְּמוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא… אוֹמֵר לוֹ משֶׁה אֲנִי נִתְעַלֵּיתִי יוֹתֵר מִמְּךָ, אַתָּה כָּבוֹד שֶׁנִּתַּן לְךָ נִטַּל מִמְּךָ… אֲבָל אֲנִי זִיו הַפָּנִים שֶׁנָּתַן לִי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, עִמִּי הוּא…
Adam said to Moses: “I am greater than you as I was created in the image of the Holy One, blessed be He…” Moses replied: “I surpassed you, since the honour that was given to you has been taken away… as for me, the facial glow that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave me is still with me…”
– Midrash Devarim Rabbah 11:3
Adam and Eve were created in God’s Image, with a divine glow that our Sages described as “garments of light”. They were meant to consume from the Tree of Life, meriting eternity in a perfect world. Instead, they partook of the Forbidden Fruit and immediately lost that divine glow.
When Moses descended from his sojourn on Mt. Sinai, the Torah tells us that “the skin of his face sent forth rays [of light]” (Exodus 34:30). Moses had restored the divine glow lost by Adam. And he brought with him the Torah, “a Tree of Life for those who grasp it” (Proverbs 3:18). By observing the Torah, we are able to fulfil what Adam couldn’t—consuming from the Tree of Life to merit eternity in a perfect world.
Yet, many of the Torah’s mitzvot are currently unobservable. The only way to fulfil those precepts is by studying them. By plunging into the infinite depths of God’s Word and unravelling its shivi’im panim, “seventy faces”, we can uncover the entire Tree of Life and the divine glow within. The following seventy essays on the weekly parasha and holidays aim to uncover a little bit of that glow.
Click on the titles below for more excerpts.
Contents
Genesis
Beresheet
- Sefer Yetzirah and the 32 Paths of Creation
- Reversing the Curses of Eden
Noach
3. Shabbat or Shabbos: What’s the Correct Pronunciation?
Lech Lecha
- The Kabbalah of Bar Mitzvah
Vayera
- Three Practical Lessons from Abraham
- The Shocking Opinion that the Akedah Never Happened
Chayei Sarah
Toldot
Vayetze
- The Unusual Connection Between Jacob, Issachar, and Rabbi Akiva
Vayishlach
Vayeshev
- Joseph, Tamar, and Mashiach’s Kingdom
Miketz
- What Do Your Dreams Mean?
Vayigash
- The Letter of Creation
Vayechi
- The Origins of Me’arat HaMakhpelah, Cave of the Patriarchs
- Mashiach and the Mysterious 13th Zodiac Sign
Exodus
Shemot
- The Names of the Torah’s Hidden Women
Va’era
Bo
Beshalach
- Red Sea or Reed Sea: Where is Mount Sinai?
Yitro
- The One Commandment of the Torah
Mishpatim
- Eye for an Eye: Abraham and Hammurabi
Terumah
Tetzave
- Should You Wear a Red String on Your Wrist?
Ki Tisa
- The Priests and the Aftermath of the Golden Calf
Vayak’hel-Pekudei
- “Shalom Aleichem”: To Sing or Not to Sing?
- Hidden Symbolism of the Mishkan and the 39 Melakhot of Shabbat
Leviticus
Vayikra
- Why Did the Levites Become Priests?
Tzav
- The Torah’s Missing Verses
Shemini
- Pig Gelatin and Synthetic Pork: Kosher?
Tazria-Metzora
- Do Men Have More Mitzvot Than Women?
Acharei-Kedoshim
- Will There be Sacrifices in the Third Temple?
- The Mysterious Custom of Upsherin
Emor
- The 24 Ornaments of a Bride
Behar-Bechukotai
- Is Mount Sinai Really a Mountain?
- Eye-Openers from the Book of Jubilees
Numbers
Bamidbar
- Stages of Life According to the Sefirot
Nasso
- Understanding Yourself Through the Letters of Your Name
Beha’alotkha
- How Many Books are in the Torah?
Shlach
- The Secret Power of Tzitzit
Korach
- The Difference Between “Jew” and “Hebrew”
Chukat
- Red Cow: Quantum Physics in the Torah
Balak
- Deciphering Bilaam’s End of Days Prophecy
Pinchas
- The Secret History of the Holy Temple
Matot-Massei
- Why Immerse Dishes in a Mikveh?
- The Jewish View on Cards and Gambling
Deuteronomy
Devarim
46. Giants and Aliens in the Torah
Va’etchanan
47. Why is Judaism Matrilineal?
Ekev
48. Why Physical Labour is a Spiritual Necessity
Re’eh
- Are Tattoos Really Forbidden?
Shoftim
50. Mysteries of the Twelve Tribes and the Borders of Israel
Ki Tetze
51. Does the Torah Punish a Rapist?
Ki Tavo
52. Why is Honey Kosher if it Comes from Non-Kosher Insects?
Nitzavim-Vayelekh
53. Three Reasons to be Religious
Ha’azinu
54. Archaeological Proof for the Torah
V’Zot HaBerakhah
55. How the Torah Alluded to Christianity and Islam
Holidays
Rosh Hashanah
- Rosh Hashanah and the Coming of Mashiach
Yom Kippur
57. The Ten Martyrs & the Message of Yom Kippur
Sukkot
- A Deeper Look at the Ushpizin of Sukkot
- The Year When Sukkot Was 14 Days Long & Everyone Ate on Yom Kippur
Chanukah
60. Chanukah and the Light of Creation
61. When Jews and Greeks Were Brothers: The Untold Story of Chanukah
Purim
- The Secret Behind Wearing Masks and Getting Drunk
Pesach
63. Secrets of the Pesach Seder Plate
64. The Seventh Day of Pesach: What is Freedom?
Shavuot
- An In-Depth Look at Eating Dairy on Shavuot
More Holidays
- Tzom Gedaliah: Mystical Secrets of Fasting
- The Forgotten Reason for Fasting on the Tenth of Tevet
- The Secret Connection Between Tu b’Shevat and Tu b’Av
- Seventeeth of Tammuz: How Moses Smashed the Two Temples
- Yom Ha’Atzmaut: Uniting the Secular and the Religious
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