A Lesson in Loyalty and Respect from Abraham

The tradition of the weekly Torah reading is one of the pillars on which post-Temple Rabbinical Judaism, the Judaism we know today was built. When the Temple still stood in Jerusalem prior to its destruction by the Romans in the Great Jewish Revolt of 67 – 70 AD, Jewish worship centered on animal sacrifice by a caste of Cohanim, or priests. Regular folks could cleanse themselves of sin by bringing an animal to be sacrificed to the Temple on one of the three Pilgrimage Holidays of Passover (commemorating the Exodus from Egypt), Shavuot (commemorating the receiving of the Torah and the Covenant at Mount Sinai) and Succot (Tabernacles, commemorating, once again the Egyptian Exodus). These three holidays are key milestones in the saga of the Israelites, the Children of Israel becoming a nation and entering into an everlasting covenant with the Lord, a covenant that we can so clearly see in action today.