Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

  • Be Grateful For What You Have

    We are required to bring a Thanksgiving Offering to the Tabernacle. This is to teach us to be thankful for what God has done for us. It is very easy to forget that God is the source for all that we have, including life.

  • Be The Right Man For the Job

    The Torah first tells us what to do and then announces who will be the High Priest. This is to teach us that more important than who is doing the service, that the service should be done correctly.

  • From Day to Day, Continuity

    One of the important aspects of what the Priests in the Tabernacle had to do was to carry the fire of the Altar from day to day. This is to teach us that if you want the next generation to follow you have to show them the way.

  • Leaders Are Accountable

    There were special offerings given by the leaders if they inadvertently made a mistake, both the religious leaders as well as the religious. The reason is that people will base their decisions on what they do and say.

  • A New Beginning

    The first commandment that the Jewish people received was to declare the 1st of Nisan to be the beginning of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashanah is the day that the 1st man was created. The 1st of Nisan is when the Jewish people became a people.

  • Being Responsible for Our Actions

    The sin offering is brought for an unintentional sin. That is something that happened but was not intended. It is not an accident but it caused damage either spiritually or physically. We are still responsible for our actions.

  • Do The Right Thing

    The Torah gives a lot of rules and laws on the sacrificial service. The reason is to avoid us falling into anarchy and losing sight of what the service is for.

  • The Sacrifices Are For Us

    The Torah is very clear that the Temple service is for us and not for God. The purpose of the service is to make us better people.

  • What is the Tabernacle For

    We finish the Book of Exodus with the completion of the building of the Tabernacle. We start the Book of Leviticus with how to use this building. The use of the building is what makes it special, not its beauty.

  • Under God’s Guidance

    The Book of Exodus ends with the Pillar of Fire to guide the Jews by night & the pillar of smoke in the day. This is to show the Jews that they are to follow God’s ways throughout their lives.