The Sacred Calendar & Honour Killing of the Priestly Source – Jono, Ross, & Ezra
Emor steps into the priestly playbook of Leviticus. We explore the rigid hierarchy of holiness, where physical defects disqualify, certain foods belong to God, and even a priest’s daughter can be burned for dishonoring her father. We examine the sacred calendar and ask: do Yom Kippur and Yom Teruah have ancient roots—or were they added…
The Ten Words in Leviticus – Jono, Ross, & Ezra
Acharei Mot & Kedoshim - where goat demons haunt the wilderness, “uncovering nakedness” becomes a legal category, and the Day of Atonement seems conspicuously absent from the stories it should inhabit. We explore the infamous Holiness Code (Leviticus 17–20), examine…
Fluxes & Flows, The Sin of Natural Biological Functions – Jono, Ross, & Ezra
Tazria & Metzora are some of the most unusual—and uncomfortably specific—sections of the Torah. Covering childbirth, skin eruptions, bodily discharges, and plague-like conditions in homes and garments, we ask whether these priestly purity laws are ancient dermatology, spiritual symbolism, or…
The Conjuring – The Revelation Narrative of the Priestly Source – Jono, Ross, & Ezra
In this week’s Torah Pearls, we explore the strange fire that is the dramatic theophany at the altar and ask, did Jehovah eat the fat on the altar, and if so, did He also eat Nadab and Abihu?! We compare multiple texts describing the same event from different angles, examine whether holiness (or uncleanness) is…