Parashat Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) By Rev. Tom Reid In a world where random violence seems increasingly routine, and in the wake of a horrific and inexplicable triple homicide that has shaken Newton, Massachusetts (the community where I work and serve as a Protestant Christian pastor), Parashat Pinchas landed heavily on me. I could not shift my attention away from the disturbing passage that opens the parashah. The text continues the story of Pinchas and the apparent reward he receives from God for taking... Read more
In Praise of Unrealized Dreams
By Naomi Gurt Lind, 70 Faces Blog Editor Parashat Mattot-Masei (Numbers 30:2-36:13) With our double portion this week, Mattot-Masei, we find ourselves at the end of Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers. For all intents and purposes, it is also the narrative end of the Torah. Sefer Dvarim, the Book of Deuteronomy, is mainly a retelling of the previous four books, punctuated by Moses’s long goodbye. Here, as we conclude Parashat Mattot-Masei, the Israelites are poised to enter the land of Israel. This is the... Read more