פרשת תזריע / ע”ד באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
The Torah states that there is a disease that requires a priest to determine its nature and that the cure is quarantine. The problem is that the priest is not a medical doctor. The Torah is talking about the disease of malicious gossip. And the cure is to remove the gossiper from society.
פרשת שמינ / כ”ב באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
What was the strange fire that Nadav & Avihu brought to the Altar? One answer is that they thought themselves unprepared to approach the Altar so they drank some alcohol to numb themselves. They were the strange fire. They did not prepare properly.
פרשת שמיני / כ”א באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
The fact that a priest working in the Tabernacle was forbidden to drink before starting his service means to tell us that we should not take our ritual lightly. They are an example to the people coming to the Tabernacle and should behave as such.
פרשת שמיני / כ’ באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
The pig has cloven hooves but does not chew its cud, thus it is not kosher. It is the only animal that is so. For this reason it is the ultimate symbol of hypocrisy. Do as I say, not as I do. Also, a pig will eat anything unlike other animals who do have limits.
פרשת שמיני / י”ט באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
The word inquire is repeated twice in this week’s parsha. They appear right in the middle. Equal distant from the beginning to end, This is to tell us that God does not want robots but he wants us to think and ask.
פרשת שמיני / י”ז באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
Why does the Torah spend time teaching us about keeping kosher in the middle of describing the ritual of the service in the Tabernacle? This is to teach us that service to God is not a spectator sport. You have to be in it to win it.
פרשת צו – שושן פורים / ט”ו באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
While God is not mentioned in the Book of Esther (Migilat Esther), we do see God’s hand guiding the events of the story through the way the story is told. This is to teach us that God is in our lives if only we bother to pay attention.
פרשת צו / י”ב באדא ב’ תשפ”ב
At the critical moment when Mordechai begs Esther to approach the king, she demurs. Mordechai reminds her that she is also under the decree. That if we need to do the right thing no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel.
פרשת צו / י”א באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
The Book of Esther goes out of its way to bring up the lineage of both Mordechai and Haman. The reason is to show that the story of Purim is a Tikun, or a fixing, of the sin of Saul when he did not do the proper thing and kill Agog.
פרשת צו / י’ באדר ב’ תשפ”ב
We fast the day before Purim. This is usually understood that Esther requested this due to the danger of going to the king without permission. This can also be understood that the reason for the story to begin with is that the Jews were not behaving properly at the beginning of the story