Jewish Texts

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.

The three paragraphs of the Shema can be interpreted allegorically by connecting each of the three paragraphs to a different stage of a growing, loving relationship.

The very structure of the normal Jewish blessing formula (Barukh Atah…) reflects the tension of recognizing and responding to God's immanence and transcendance.

How the balance of keva (routine) and kavanah (intention) inform Judaism and the thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel.

The duty of the Levites to accompany the Tabernacle service with music and song reminds us to serve God with joy.