פרשת קרח / כ”ט בסיון תשפ”ב
On the face of it Korach seems to have a valid complaint. The truth is that it breaks down when we really look at it. This is the very common among those who seek power for the sake of power. They use democracy to bring their dictatorship.
פרשת קרח / כ”ח בסיון תשפ”ב
The Mishna in Pirkei Avot mentions the difference between a disagreement for the sake of Heaven and for personal ego is the dispute between Shammai & Hillel, for the sake of Heaven, and Korach and his congregation for ego. The difference is that if the dispute is for the sake of Heaven, then they might disagree, but they did not look on their opponents as enemies. Korach and his congregation looked on their opponents as evil.
פרשת קרח / כ”ז בסיון תשפ”ב
Korach led a rebellion against Moses based on “equality”. Why should Moses be the leader over all of the Jews? Aren’t we all equal? The answer is that Moses became Moses because he worked on himself. He was not born into leadership. He earned it.
פרשת שלח / כ”ה בסיון תשפ”ב
This week’s portion includes the admonition about idolatry. This is no accident. Idolatry is trying to make God human. Our goal should be to be Godly. It includes the Sabbath desecrater. Violating the Sabbath is denying that God created the universe.
פרשת שלח / כ”ד בסיון תשפ”ב
The problem with the men that Moses sent out to scout the land was that they let their egos get in the way. They had a preconceived notion and bent the facts to their opinions. A true spy is unknown to all and presents the facts as they are, not what they want them to be.
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 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 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.