parshat Shmini

It should have been a day of joy. The Israelites had completed the Mishkan, the Sanctuary. But tragedy struck. The two elder sons of Aaron “offered a strange fire" and they died. Aaron’s joy turned to mourning.

“I work as a leather tanner. Should I train for a different parnasah, so that I can make a living after Moshiach comes?” “What is the difference between a toad and a frog?” What does either of the previous two questions have to do with this week’s parshah?

One of the more distinguishing life values which Judaism advocates is the type of food that a Jew eats. Perhaps no other area of Jewish life has evoked so much scholarship and divergence of opinions.

deducting from the Torah reading why you're better off eating meat in Israel than in the Diaspora.

What's the connection between working in a recording studio and eating non-kosher food?

In the aftermath of the death of two of Aharon’s sons, who brought “a foreign fire” (Vayikra 10:1), the Torah commands kohanim not to drink wine or other intoxicating drinks before entering or serving in the holy sanctum (ibid. 9). The Torah goes on: “… and to make rulings for Bnei Yisrael on all of the statutes that Hashem spoke to them by Moshe’s hand” (ibid. 11).

The Torah sums up the whole section about eating animals with the mention of coming to Israel. Why are these two issues connected?

A Shiur by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks for the weekly portion "Shmini".