Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

King Solomon chose an orphan to be the architect of the First Temple because he was the best. This teaches us that our lineage doesn’t matter as much as our accomplishments.

It is no accident that the festivals that Israel Independence Day and Jerusalem Day are both in the month of Iyar. It is during that month that we mourn the loss of the Bar-Kochba revolt. This is God saying the redemption begins here.

Morality that is not based on the Bible is flawed. We can reason a lot but sometimes our reasoning leads us down a dark path and allows us to commit horrendous acts.

Just because someone has a lot of degrees does not mean that they have wisdom. They usually show their lack of wisdom when they take evidence and come to the wrong conclusions

Today is Holocaust Remembrance in Israel. It is one week before Israel Independence Day. It is not an accident but shows that, even though we suffered the destruction of European Jewry, we got up and continued our mission.

While going into the details of the offerings to be brought in the Tabernacle, the Torah reminds us of the laws of Kashrut. To remind us that our daily lives are what makes the big things possible.

This week’s portion is informing us that in the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, we have to be precise in our rituals. That the service is not a game. We cannot deviate from God’s instructions.

The first thing that a priest serving in the Tabernacle did in the morning was to clean out the ashes from the Menorah. This was a dirty job, Aaron would look forward to doing it every morning.

It is interesting that the Torah refers to Passover as the Holiday of Matzoth. We have to remember that the goal was to get Egypt out of the Jews. The Egyptians had inventing leavening.

When we put the three main holidays in an American historical perspective we can understand them even better.