Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

God stresses that first we do the commandment no matter how we feel about it. Eventually, we will feel the wisdom of doing the right thing.

The reason that the Torah spends so much time on the construction of the Tabernacle is that it was meant for us, not God. We forget that God does not need the Tabernacle, we do.

A lesson that we can learn from the Super Bowl is that we should not give up on attempting to achieve our goals. When our people were down and it looked like it was over for us, we managed to achieve great things.

God’s command to build a Tabernacle is so that He might dwell within us. God’s plan is that we do His will and thus bring Him into the world.

The Torah’s view of “social justice” is that we are responsible not only for our own actions but also of those who are dependent on us. If you own a dangerous animal, then you are responsible for your animal’s actions.

The Torah is very careful about the dignity of humans. Even a murderer his dignity respected.

The purpose of the Torah’s justice system is to make the victim whole. That if the victim loses an eye he is compensated by the culprit giving him the value of an eye. We do not blind the culprit.

The Torah reminds us that slaves have to be treated humanely because we are all created in the image of God.

If a Jew who is enslaved does not wish to go free in the Sabbatical year he is punished. The reason is that the Torah can only be observed by someone who is free. A slave is not a full person.

The Torah states that the purpose of the Jews leaving Egypt was that they were to serve God. Yet instead of the Jews building the tabernacle where they would serve God, God first gives them moral and ethical laws.