Leviticus calls the grain offering a "soul." Rashi says it's what a poor person brings. God counts it as everything.

The parsha with the Ten Commandments is named for a Midianite priest. A lot of people heard what God did. Yitro moved.

The rabbis can't agree whether Noah was great or just adequate. Five months into being Jewish, that question reads differently than you'd expect.

Se'u et rosh — "lift up the head." The Torah doesn't tally the Israelites. It elevates them, one by one, by name. A new convert in Tel Aviv is still learning what that means.

Two years ago I visited Israel as a tourist. This week I landed ten days after my conversion. Same sign at Ben Gurion. Different person reading it.

I became a Jew on Tuesday. The Torah portion this Shabbat hands me the whole calendar — every appointment, every meeting. Someone was expecting me to show up.