A new feature: Torah Tidbits!

Among the other Jewish-blogging projects in the hopper, I've started doing something else that is long overdue:  Reading the parshat hashavua, in both English and Hebrew, on a regular basis.  The few times in the past I've gotten into the habit of doing this have always been highly illuminating.  In particular, I'm always surprised at how the Torah "changes" for me -- bits and pieces that have sunk into my deeper consciousness, things that I always remember, sometimes turn out to be, well, not exactly as I recalled.  Some things come out as brand new to me, while others shock, challenge, trouble or provoke.  I'm not really sure why the practice never stuck, but in any case, I'm going to stick it now.

I'm using mostly the JPS translation, but for some strange reason, I've also become somewhat enamored of the Kehot Publication Society's Chumash, at least those volumes that have been published.  (The interpolated translation is strange, adding lots of additional text that, in my opinion, might or might not be right, but it includes Rashi's commentary in non-Rashi script, which, for me, is so much easier than reading the Rashi script!)  I think I'll be purchasing the ArtScroll Tanach in the near future as well.

My plan, at least to start, is to make sure I've read the parshat hashavua so that I can post on the Sunday/Monday immediately after.  By "Torah Tidbits" I'm thinking about something specific:  Things I read that seem strange, that raise questions for me, that seem remarkable or out of place.  In doing so, I certainly invite readers (if any!) to comment or to suggest other resources for me to check out.  I'm hoping that, over the long-run, these "tidbits" will serve as a the entrypoints for further thinking, writing and research.

Like Hadag Nahash says, Ma sheba ba, ma sheba sababa...