Week of June 9

Our Torah portion begins with repeated instructions to the biblical priests as to the proper method of lighting the seven-branched menorah in the Sanctuary. The first key word of the portion, “be’ha’alote’cha,” comes from the verb “to ascend,” in Hebrew: ayin, lamed, hey. So a literal definition of this complex form would be “in your causing the flame of the menorah to ascend.”

The story unfolds with descriptions of the ritual use of the silver trumpets. Also included is how to celebrate the Passover one month later, if one was inadvertently kept from observing it on time, because of one’s ritual impurity.

The Torah portion also contains the famous story about Moses’ relation to his brother and sister, who accuse him of being too “special.” Has God only spoken to Moses, are we not also prophets in the biblical sense? As the saga continues, Miriam contracts a skin disease, and only through Moses’ prayers does she find a healing.