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It's What We Do
#menachot #masehetmenachot #tefillin #talkingtalmud #wordshavewings #davening #prayer #sacrifice #sacrificeandprayer Hello Friends! This is a week of double posts- something that I haven't done in quite a while. Because Masechet Menachot, is 110 pages, it has been a little more than 110 days since my last entry on my Daf Yomi travels. We are in year six of the seven-year cycle, and we are now beginning Masechet Chullin. (It's a good time to join in!) You can find other Daf
Leann Shamash
4 hours ago4 min read
Sefirat Ha'Omer in Haikus
#haiku #sefirathaomer #sefira #parshatemor #emor #jewishholidays #countingtheomer #vayikra #sefervayikra #jewishholidaycalendar #theomer #littleprojects #49days #sevenweeks Hello Everyone, It seems that for each of the years that I have written Words Have Wings, I have written with some ideas for counting the Omer. I guess this will be another one of those posts. I'll say what I have said before. I love the Omer! I don't know why?!? Maybe just because it is a challenge? Ma
Leann Shamash
5 days ago6 min read
The Soul of an Animal
This week's post reflects a discussion we had in our Torah class this week. כִּ֣י נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר֮ בַּדָּ֣ם הִוא֒ וַאֲנִ֞י נְתַתִּ֤יו לָכֶם֙ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־הַדָּ֥ם ה֖וּא בַּנֶּ֥פֶשׁ יְכַפֵּֽר׃ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have assigned it to you for making expiation for your lives upon the altar; it is the blood, as life, that effects expiation. In this injunction that Jews not consume the blood of an animal, we lear
Leann Shamash
Apr 223 min read
Home
#tazria #metzora #tazriametzora #vayikra #sefervayikra #parshattazria #space #artemis #home #return #thereturn #moon #darksideofthemoon #nasa #April2026expedition With a double parsha the likes of as Tazria-Metzora it is easy to look away from the many details of the status of being Tamei or Tahor. Whether it is childbirth, attending to the dead, various sexual emissions or contact with "creepy crawlies," there are ways to become Tamei. And then there are those who develop Tz
Leann Shamash
Apr 153 min read
Seventy Faces of Torah
#torah #birthdays #torahstudy #seventy #70 Today is a special day for me, so asking Parshat Shemini for forgiveness for not posting about on its varied topics, but instead concentrating on the number seventy. Wishing you a sweet final days of Pesach. You will find some links for Words Have Wings posts for Parshat Shemini at the end of this post. Chag Sameach to you. Leann there are seventy faces of Torah and as many ways to interpret as there are minds that think and moments
Leann Shamash
Apr 72 min read
The Torah of Hospital Corners
#tzav #ritual #sacrifice #leviticus #vayikra #parsha #wordshavewings #sheets #memories #hospitalcorners #everydaythings #thingswedo #brushingourteeth #makingthebed #torah #seder #passover #order #orderliness #rituals #ritual Is it any surprise that Parshat Tzav comes in advance of Pesach? For both Pesach and Shabbat have something in common and that is that in life there is a certain order to things. In the case of Korbanot, you can be sure that whether it is the Korban Toda
Leann Shamash
Mar 254 min read
Art of The Song of Songs
#songofsongs #artofthesongofsongs #shirhashirim #passover #shirhashirimasherlshlomo Springtime Greetings To You, Over the course of six snowy weeks this winter a group of us approached the book of The Song of Songs with the thought that its vibrantly colored passages would be a great base for creating art. We understood that the Song of Song for some represents that love of Gd for the Jewish people, and was understood by others to be a love poem. We spent time with this parti
Leann Shamash
Mar 237 min read
The Onion of Vayikra and Lessons From Torah Doodles
#vayikra #parshatvayikra #leviticus #thelawsofthekohanim #sacrifice #ididntnotice #didntpayattention #whatwedontnotice #easiertoignore Hello Everyone, No poem this week; just a few observations. I hope they resonate with you as we begin the middle book of the Torah, Sefer Vayikra. OBSERVATION ONE Each week for the past 2 1/2 years, a small group of us have studied the parsha together online. I present themes from the parsha and things that I am curious about, and the partici
Leann Shamash
Mar 173 min read
For Those
#vayakhel #forthose #volunteering #helping #parshatvayakhel #pekudei #vayakhelpekudei #thecandygiver For some of you who have been following this blog for a while, you will perhaps recognize this as a post from 2022. Here we are in 2026 and I think it is worthwhile to repost this as it is as true today as it was then. The combined Parshiyot of Vayakhel/Pekudei complete Sefer Shemot (Exodus) in a quietly magnificent way. The Mishkan is complete and Moshe gives it his blessing
Leann Shamash
Mar 114 min read
Welcome to "Words Have Wings."
During the year following the death of a parent it is their children's responsibility to say the kaddish. This blog is a series of reflections while saying the kaddish for my late mother, Irma Gershkowitz.
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