Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, rabbinic director of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services of New York’s National Center for Jewish Healing, will present at Congregation Anshei Israel’s “Torah and Healing” study session on Saturday, April 26 at 5 p.m. Weintraub, a licensed therapist, will lead “The Taboo of the Tattoo: Healing Insights from a Mitzvah in Emor.”
Many Jews are familiar with the aversion to intentionally marking the skin, but this Torah portion refers to the prohibition of shaving the head smooth, cutting the side-growth of beards or making gashes on the body. Weintraub will explore healing themes that underlie these commandments, including the Jewish attitude toward physicality, aging, mortality and order in nature and society.
A Mincha service will follow at 6 p.m., with a brief contemplation of the Atah Ehad (You are One) prayer, which is only said at Shabbat Mincha.
For more information, call 745-5550.
