Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

The murder of Gedalia was the end of Jewish presence in Judeah under the Babylonians. It was caused by Jews who made common cause with the Ammonites, ignoring the fact that the Ammonites were against any Jewish presence in the Land.

The story of the binding of Isaac teaches us that, while God wants allegiance, He does not want blind allegiance. He wants us to use the tools that He gave us to make the right decisions based on the Torah.

The reason that we are allowed to repent is that we are humans and not animals. An animal cannot be held responsible for its actions. It does not know right and wrong. We have the Torah that teaches us morality and ethical behavior.

One of the lessons of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy is that when one Jew commits a sin then all are responsible. It a society is immoral then immorality will affect all.

No where in the Bible does it state that God eats our sacrifices. Instead it says that God smells the aroma, meaning that He is looking at our intent. Our prayers are our current form of the sacrifices. Again God is looking at our intent of our prayers.

Rosh Hashanah is not the Jewish New Year. It is the world’s. It is the anniversary of the creation of the first human. This is to underscore that the world was created for the use by humans.

In this week’s portion Moses gets the Jews ready for his imminent death. He knows that he will not be the leader and prepares for the next generation through the appointment of Joshua.

To end his long speech Moses again reminds the Jews of the danger of idolatry. The real evil of idolatry is that there is no moral code. People do what they think is correct. The Bible is our guide to what is moral and what is not.

One of the most famous statements in the Torah is in this week’s portion. That the Torah is not in Heaven. What is meant by that is that the Torah was given to us as a rule and guide on how to conduct our lives.

In this week’s portion we see what happens when someone marries for lust. They end up hating each other. The results is the rebellious son. To avoid this marry for the right reasons.