5779 – Shemini: The Riddle of the Red Heifer — The Secret of Being Jewish

Posted by Meir Schweiger on March 24, 2019
Topics: Pardes from Jerusalem, Torah, Vayikra (Leviticus), Shemini

This week we read a special maftir, which discusses the laws of the red heifer. The Rabbis see the red heifer as the quintessential chok–a law which is irrational and that defies our understanding. In this podcast, Rabbi Meir Schweiger examines why the red heifer is seen as such a law, and through an analysis of the laws of ritual impurity associated with a corpse, attempts to understand how the red heifer may be conveying a core message of what it means to be Jewish.
This podcast is sponsored by Dr. Phillip Ross and Daphna Ross in honor of the bar mitzvah of their son Meir Nadiv Ross.
To learn about sponsoring a podcast please visit us online or by sending an email to Jamie@pardes.org.

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For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

Credits
Larry Kluger – Creative Consultant
Arlene Harel – Production Coordinator

About Meir Schweiger

Meir teaches Chumash, Parshat HaShavua, Mishna, Talmud, Halakha, Siddur and Interpersonal Relations at Pardes. Meir came on aliya in 1972 from “the Bronx”, NY, immediately after graduating from City College in New York with a B.A. in Mathematics and Physics. He did his advanced Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh and Yeshivat Har Etzion, receiving ordination from Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg of Jerusalem. He received his M.Ed in Teaching Bible from the Herzog College in Gush Etzion.Click here to read more.

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