On The Other Hand

By Pastor Matt McKeown | April 29, 2020 |

Again we have a double portion, Achrei Mot and Kedoshim. Today I am focused on Achrei Mot – the scapegoat. The portion tells us there are two goats. One is for sacrifice. The other, all the sins of Israel are place upon its head and it is driven from the camp and thrown off a…

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Speak No Evil

By Pastor Matt McKeown | April 25, 2020 |

This week we have two portions – Tazria and Metzora – often referred to together. And this blog will be pulling commentary or interpretation from many sources. The Talmud asks why those affected with biblical leprosy  or tzara at  are called metzora. The word metzora comes from two words, motzi  meaning to bring forth and ra meaning evil. So…

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Crazy Eights

By Pastor Matt McKeown | April 17, 2020 |

This week’s portion is Shemini, which means “eighth” – literally it was the “eighth day of assembly”. This portion is about the numbers. there are a couple of strands here. First, there are prescriptions for the number of sacrifices that Aaron (the High Priest) will make and how many will be made for the people…

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