Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

The leaders of the tribes decided to wait until after the people gave their donations to the Tabernacle and then they would make up the difference. They discovered that if they did not donate fast they would miss out since the people gave enough.

There are many smart people who make bad decisions. They have all the facts but they fail to understand them. They lack the wisdom of the Torah.

Just as the desert is inhospitable and if we do not know how to survive in it, so too, the Jewish people without God’s help will perish in the desert of assimilation.

Today we celebrate the miracle of the 6 Day War in 1967. There were so many miracles during that was that the US military does not teach about it since they say that the victory was the hand of God.

Tomorrow is Jerusalem Day, the anniversary of the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967. For those of us who were aware at that time, we recognize the miracle of that liberation.

When discussing the descendants of Moses and Aaron the Torah misses Moses’s descendants. The truth is that we are his descendants as long as we follow the Torah.

Today is the Israel Day Parade in New York. Now, more than ever it will be necessary for Jews to unite in support of Israel and show those who hate us that we will not give into their lies and hatred.

After the curses the Torah reminds us that we all have intrinsic value. That each human is valuable. Unlike other cultures we do not kill those who have deformities. We value all human life.

The hardest thing to remember is that our success depends on God. We are required to work for success but without moral code of the Bible our society will fall.

This week’s portion warns of the danger of the slippery slope. That a person thinks he is doing something nice but is allowing others to take advantage of his kindness for bad purposes.