Jewish Texts

The priestly blessing with which parents bless their children on Shabbat gives parents an opportunity to partner with God in shaping Jewish history and ensuring continuity.

Moses sends scouts to explore the Land of Israel; ten of them convince the people that it will be too difficult to conquer the land.

How much do you know about bible characters?

A description of the highlights of the Torah, according to the divisions of the weekly portions.

God describes the service of the Gershon family of Levites; laws relating to the suspected adulteress and the nazirite are given; God tells Moses and Aaron the priestly blessing; the heads of tribes bring gifts to the Tabernacle.

The internal and external structure of this carefully-crafted Psalm serves to reinforce its theme of praising God as the caring, divine ruler of all creation.

The Book of Numbers, full of bloodshed and division, ends with a call for unity and a discussion of the sanctity of life.

The list of places through which the Israelites traveled in the wilderness teaches us to understand Judaism through our everyday experiences.

An early group of Jewish mystics conceived of the Hebrew alphabet as the building blocks of creation.

The Torah reading in most synagogues is inaccessible, the author says, and needs to be "livened up" through the use of drama and performance art.

The blessings that conclude the Amidah's center section emphasize God's redemption of Israel.

The structure of these three blessings reflects the historical progress from creation to revelation to redemption.