Leviticus: Tazria-Metzora — Holiness at the Surfaces

Judith Butler, in a recent book, argues that even insinuations present in speech acts alone can already be damaging and destructive to society. The Ben Ish Hai in his Aderet Eliyahu provides a vivid example of how minor translocations of speech and action contain within them the capacity for what I prefer to label as dis-location, that is a movement away from normal place of being with a negative connotation.

Purim

With Purim, there is no miracle. It takes place in exile, the Jews are a persecuted minority, and a lot of political intrigue is involved.

Perashat Vayakhel-Pekudei

This week’s perasha recounts the repeated (or continued) call to erect the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary built to house the ark and the sacred utensils, after the debacle of the golden calf episode.