“The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.”

Torah – the teaching of God brought to us in the first five books of our Bible – is foundational to all else in the Bible and in our life of faith.

At first glance, the Torah portion deals with laws: the laws of the priests, the laws of the offerings, and ultimately also the listing of Israel’s appointed festivals.

The word holiness often sounds far removed from life, because it is associated with the Temple and with rituals, with special moments or extraordinary people.

To simply read the first chapter of our Torah portion this week is enough to humble us, just as it is intended to do.

What do we do when life suddenly forces us to come to a standstill? Why do we so often experience pausing as a punishment rather than as a protected space?

If it were not for the Fall and the banishing of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, there would have been no need for a way back to God. But there is such a need.

What happens when heaven touches earth and a person cannot bear the moment? When closeness to God not only uplifts, but also demands; not only warms, but burns?

God must be known in the entire earth by His character of holiness and glory, through the witness of His people, considered as such and approached as such. It is our responsibility that this is so.