Day 29 of the Omer: four weeks (and one day) down. Emor gives us the counting command — for yourselves — and the weeks have to be whole.

"After the death" is the name of half of this week's Torah portion. "Be holy" is the other half. The Jewish calendar moved the same way this week. No pause. Just the next thing.

A freed hostage plays a violin that survived the Holocaust. A yellow candle on the counter. The parsha: the priest goes outside the camp. Outside, and back.

Fire from heaven, then silence. Parashat Shemini asks what happens when joy and grief arrive on the same day — and the table has to hold both.

A perpetual fire, the Torah says, shall not go out. But perpetual doesn't mean self-sustaining. Someone has to show up and lay the wood.

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

Forgiveness may be one of the hardest gifts to give, yet it frees the soul to breathe again.

Friend or acquaintance: What makes the difference? True friends connect deeply, help each other grow, and even turn flaws into gems.

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.