A free person has to be responsible with his time. A slave does not. That is the reason that the first commandment is declaring the new month. The Jews were being freed for a purpose.
Category: Citizenship
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You Need a Good Spokesman
Aaron had remained in Egypt while Moses was in Midian. For that reason, Aaron was better suited to speak the Jews. He felt the pain that they felt.
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The Reason for Freedom
Getting the Jews out of Egypt was easy job. The hard job was to make the Jews into a nation.
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Own Up to Your Actions
פרשת בראשית / כ”ו בתשרי תשפ”ג
The reason for the punishment of Adam & Eve was not that they had violated God’s one commandment. It was that they denied culpability.
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Our Leaders Are Not Gods
פרשת ניצבים / כ”ד באלול תשפ”ב
The admonition not be like the idol worshipers of Egypt was to stress that our leaders are not like the Pharoah. He was considered to be a god. Our leaders are human and should be treated as such.
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Make the World Better by Being Better
פרשת כי תבוא / כ’ באלול תשפ”ב
We are commanded to be better people. The Torah does not care about our feelings but about our behavior. We make the world a better place by our actions, not our intent.
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Actions Over Beliefs
פרשת כי תבוא / י”ח באלול תשפ”ב
There is a debate which is more important: Doing the commandments or being spiritual. The Jerusalem Talmud addressed this debate in the 3rd Century CE and concludes that your actions are more important than your beliefs therefore we should follow the commandments even if we do not believe in God.
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Don’t Be Average
פרשת כי תבוא / ט”ו באלול תשפ”ב
In the curses that we receive if we do not follow the Torah is that we will become an average people. While there is nothing wrong with being average it is not a great accomplishment either. The Torah wants us to be above average in our moral and ethical behavior.
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The Danger of Cheating in Business
פרשת כי תצא / י”ג באלול תשפ”ב
The admonition of having accurate weights & measures is a warning against dishonest business practices. It is immediately followed by a warning about Amelek. The two are related. Amelek is looking for weakness in society. This is brought on by being dishonest and causing dissention in society.