Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

  • Idolatry is for Children

    When Moses seems to be delayed coming back from Mt. Sinai the Jews build an idol. It seems strange until we remember that they were only recently freed from Egyptian bondage and the only society that they knew was Egyptian.

  • Jewish Unity Defeats All

    The main lesson of Purim is that we are required to have a festive meal with our neighbors, give charity, and give each other gifts. This is to promote Jewish unity. As Rabbi Kook mentions, the Temple will be rebuilt through senseless love.

  • Our Fates Are In God’s Hands

    Esther requests that the Jews fast due to the danger in her plan. She recognizes that without God’s guiding hand her plan to save them would fail.

  • A Lesson in Bad Governance

    The story of Purim tells us that the real danger to the Jewish people is not people who are evil. We can find them easily enough, but of leaders who are venal and corruptible. Without them the evil doers do not have a chance to do evil.

  • Take a Stand

    In the story of the Book of Esther all the action revolves around the fact that Mordechai refuses to bow down to Haman. What frustrated Haman was the opposition of Mordechai. That Mordechai stood against evil.

  • Why an Inherited Priesthood

    The institution of the Priesthood was an inherited position. Why? The idea was to take politics out of the service in the Tabernacle. When politics mix with religion it is usually bad for both. By making the priesthood inherited the Torah was accomplishing this goal.

  • Moses & True Humility

    True humility is not being quiet and living a sheltered life. True humility is that when we take on a leadership position, we remember that it not about me but getting the job done and not caring who gets credit.

  • Breaking With Egypt

    The Jews are commanded to use unleavened bread in the Tabernacle. The reason is that Egypt had invented the leavening process and one of the prime ideas behind the Torah is that we should reject Egypt, both physically and spiritually.

  • Clothes Make the Man

    The Torah spends a lot of time describing how the Priests in the Taberbernacle should dress. The reason is what they represent. They represent God to the people and the people to God.

  • Shabbat is Holier than the Tabernacle

    The pasha ends with an admonishment to the Jews that the observance of Shabbat overrides the building of the Tabernacle. This is to teach us that as important as the Tabernacle was, without observance of Shabbat it is meaningless.