April 26, 2025 · כ"ח ניסן תשפ״ה
Parashat Shemini · פרשת ש מיני
A PEEK AT THE PARSHA Parshat Shmini starts with a big and exciting moment: the opening of the Mishkan, the special holy place where Bnei Yisrael would come to pray and bring offerings to Hashem. Aharon and his sons had an important job—they were chosen to be Kohanim, the people who helped in the Mishkan. But then something very sad happens. Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, brought a special offering that Hashem didn’t ask for. Because of this mistake, they died. It was a very hard moment. When Moshe told Aharon what happened, Aharon didn’t say anything—he stayed quiet. Hashem saw that
ONE BIG IDEA The Chasidah is a non-kosher bird. Rashi says it is called Chasidah because it does chesed by sharing its food with other birds of its kind. But if the Chasidah is kind, why isn’t it kosher? The answer is really interesting. The Chasidah is kind—but only to birds that are just like it. It doesn’t help any other animals or birds that are different. That’s not what being truly kind means. True kindness is being kind to everyone, not just to people who are like us. So even though the Chasidah shares, it doesn’t show the kind of kindness that the Torah teaches us. That’s why it's not kosher.
Aharon was being strong and gave him a special reward for his silence. After that, the Parsha teaches us the rules about kosher food: •
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Animals are kosher if they chew their food twice (“chewing their cud”) and have split hooves. Fish are kosher if they have fins and scales. Some birds, like eagles and vultures, are not kosher because they are birds of prey (they hunt other animals).
The parsha also talks about being pure or impure. A person can become tameh (impure) in different ways—like by touching or eating animals that aren’t kosher. But there are ways to become tahor (pure) again, like going into a Mikvah. A Mikvah is a special pool of water made from rain or from a spring. At the end of the parsha, the Torah tells us something really important: we should try to be holy, just like Hashem is holy. That means we should do good things, make good choices, and be kind to others.
TIMES - זמנים Candle-lighting: 7:27pm Havdalah: 8:26pm allah: 5:25pm