Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

  • The Morality of the Flood

    The difference between the Torah’s telling of the flood story and the others sources is that the Torah gives the story a moral dimension whereas the others do not.

  • What is True Holiness?

    True holiness is not that you pray and ignore the world but that you get involved and help your fellow. This is important to remember especially during this period of holiness.

  • It’s How You Behave When No One is Watching

    The final judgement of Yom Kippur is not given until after Simhat Torah. Why? God is interested in how we behave when we do not have the constraints of Yom Kippur. When we have had a bit to drink. That is when real repentance kicks in.

  • Walk the Talk

    The Book of Jonah relates that he does not want Nineveh to repent, knowing what the future holds. But God has His own agenda. And Nineveh is saved because of the actions of its inhabitants, not their prayers and promises.

  • The Mantle of Leadership

    When Joshua is tapped to be the next leader he is afraid that he is not ready. He learns that he is more than ready for the new position. Also, that a leader cannot be his followers friend. Decision have to be made and responsibility has to be taken.

  • Let The Next Leader Lead

    At the end of this week’s portion Moses appoints Joshua to be the new leader. Moses had to leave the scene otherwise he would have undermined Joshua’s leadership. He had to let Joshua lead.

  • Fame is Fleeting, The Torah is Forever

    The message of Ecclesiastes is that the famous are rarely significant and the significant are rare famous. Only the values of the Torah last forever. Everything else doesn’t.

  • Do Right By God & Man

    We are admonished that we cannot believe that God will forgive sins between man and man. But also social action that are not based on the Bible will lead to disaster.

  • Think Before You Act

    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.

  • God Wants Us To Think

    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.