“Welcome to Parashat Sh’mini. While our portion this week deals with the actual beginning of the priestly service in chapter nine, and the first tragic misuse of the priestly position (the death of Aharon’s son’s Nadav and Avihu) in chapter ten, the portion’s most prominent feature is the laws of kashrut as they are outlined in chapter eleven. Accordingly, it is there that I want to focus our study. May HaShem’s holy Word penetrate deep into the very fiber (pun intended) of your being as you seek to discover the Truth afresh!”