Pinchas

This week, on Parshat Pinchas, we focus on one single sentence. The most important verse in the entire Torah. Not “Shema Israel” or “Love Thy Neighbor,” but something even grander: “The first lamb you shall sacrifice in the morning, and the second lamb you shall sacrifice in the afternoon.” Come again? How is this sentence, neither well known nor all that interesting, the most important in our holy book? What does it say about our own lives, which are filled not just with passion and joy, but with constancy and repetition? And what’s it got to do with Sivan personally, from preparing sandwiches for her kids to her career as a Knesset reporter? Listen to find out.

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Thought WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.