Parshat Kedoshim- Holy Parsha

In this weeks Parsha, Parshat Kedoshim, Hashem commands Bnei Yisroel to be Holy. How exactly does he do this? Hashem begins laying out a plan in the Torah of how the Jews should live, he tells them about the Mitzvot. If you follow the Mitzvot then you are Holy. Hashem teaches us 29 Mitzvot in this weeks Parsha, One of the Mitzvot is #17 the Mitzvah of Ve Ahavta Lereicha Kamocha- Love your fellow Jew as yourself. We must all get along, and when we get along Hashem is closer to us. The Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because the Jews couldnt get along, this show us how much it means to Hashem for us to all get along. I chose to make cupcakes that represent this topic. On the top of the cupcake you can see 2 people holding hands:

 and on the bottom of the cupcake I placed a heart, to remind us to love each and every Jew:

Because of my recent trip to the Ukraine please take a minute to daven for the Jewish people there. That is the best form of achdus!

Good Shabbos

Parshat Acharei Mot- No Food For You!

In this weeks Parsha, Parshat Acharei Mot, it is the 1st of Nissan and we left off with Aarons two sons dying, Nadav and Avihu. Hashem tells Moshe not to make the same mistake they made, no one can enter the Kodesh Hakodoshim without permission. And only the Kohen Gadol can enter it on Yom Kippur and only to perform the special Yom Kippur Avodah. With this introduction, we begin to learn about Yom Kippur. We learn about what the Kohen Gadol should wear, We learn about the slaughtering of tow goats for a wake up call for Bnei Yisroel to do Teshuvah, we learn about the four times the Kohen Gadol enters the Kodesh Hakodoshim on Yom Kippur. Since we do not have a Beis Hamikdash now we recite the Avodah and Mussaf on Yom Kippur. There are a few new laws we learn about that are forbidden on Yom Kippur.

I chose to not make cupcakes this week, 1. being that Pesach is coming up and 2. to represent the food we do not eat on Yom Kippur.

Have a good Shabbos and Chag Kasher V'Sameach!

Parshat Metzorah- Our House

In this weeks Parsha, Parshat Metzorah, we continue to talk about tzarat. Most often the tzarat is caused by loshon hara. The Parsha speaks about the tzarat that was found in a home. If a house in Eretz Yisroel had a red or a green spot, they had to call the Kohain. The Kohain first orders the owner of the house to clean out his entire house before he has to look at it, otherwise everything would become tamay. This is part of the punishment for the owner because now everyone will see what they had hidden in their house. If the owner is smart he will realize this is his chance to do Teshuva and if he chooses to do so Hashem could make the tzarat lighter before the Kohain comes to check. If the spots are still there, the Kohain will come and check. He will lock up the house for seven days. If after seven days the spots are gone or are lighter the Kohain will declare the house pure. If the spots are bigger, the Kohain orders the owner to chop off the bricks with the tzarat and put in new bricks. Then the house will be closed off for another week. If the tzarat returns again, the Kohain declares the house to be demolished. If the Tzarat is gone the house goes through the same purifying ritual as a person.

I chose to make cupcakes with a house and a stop sign on it to remind us how bad the punishment was but there was a chance to turn it around. The word for tzarat on the house is nego, which means affliction, if you rearrange the letters you get the word oneg which means pleasure, this is because any affliction in our lives can become a great source of pleasure. Everything Hashem does for us is in our best interest, sometimes its more clear and other times its not as clear. May Hashem give us what we need and may everything be clear for us!

Good Shabbos