פרשת שלח / כ”ג בסיון תשפ”ב
When Joshua was chosen to be one of the scouts Moses gave him an extra letter to his name for protection. He did not do this for Caleb. The reason was that Caleb was already protected. He was married while Joshua was not. Marriage is the protection that was needed on this mission.
פרשת שלח / כ”ב בסיון תשפ”ב
The reason that the Jews were upset with the report of the scouts was that it meant that when they would enter the Land of Israel, they would have to put into practice all the laws that they were learning in the wilderness.
פרשת שלח / כ”א בסיון תשפ”ב
In this week’s portion we watch as Moses chooses the wrong people to scout out the Land. The problem with the men chosen was that they had a vested interest in staying in the wilderness. That they did not want to lose their position of leadership. Sometimes a leader has to recognize when it is time to leave.
פרשת בהעלותך / י”ח בסיון תשפ”ב
The Complainers are back again in this week’s portion. They will continue to plague Moses throughout the Exodus. The question is what they were really complaining about. The limits that the Torah places on us. That we cannot do whatever we want in society.
פרשת בהעלותך / י”ז בסיון תשפ”ב
In this week’s portion we learn that the Levites had a 5-year apprenticeship for their work in the Temple. Why did it take so long for them to learn their job? More important than learning the workings of the Temple, they had to learn how to behave in the Temple.
פרשת בהעלותך / ט”ז בסיון תשפ”ב
The Torah wants us to make ourselves better. Perfection is a state that we will never attain and the attempt to attain it will end in failure. But if we work to improve ourselves, we will become better people and thus improve the world.
פרשת בהעלותך / ט”ו בסיון תשפ”ב
This week’s portion leads with the commandment to Aaron, the High Priest, to clean & prepare the Menorah. Why does he have to do this? Can’t he delegate this job to an underling? The answer is that to the Torah leadership means to lead by example. Sometimes you have to do the dirty work yourself.
פרשת נשא / י’ בסיון תשפ”ב
In this week’s portion we find that the penalty of theft is that the thief has to make the victim whole. He also has to compensate the victim for pain and suffering due to the theft. If the thief cannot make the victim whole financially then we sell him into slavery until the victim is made whole.
פרשת נשא / ט’ בסיון תשפ”ב
In this week’s portion we again hear the complaints of the Jews regarding the food that God is providing. They remember the good food that they ate in Egypt. They seem to be forgetting the real price they had to pay for that “free” food. They were slaves and God does not want us to slaves.
פרשת נשא / ח’ בסיון תשפ”ב
In this week’s portion we learn about the punishment for the wayward wife. That is a woman who is warned not to be wife a certain man and she does so anyway. Part of the punishment is that she is given animal feed to eat. This is to teach her that just as she behaved like an animal, so we treat her as such.