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.
Category: Torah
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How To Avoid Sin
פרשת כי תבוא / י:ט באלול תשפ”ב
In Pirkei Avot it states that we should know three things to avoid sin: Know where you came from, a putrid drop; know where you are going, a place of worms; and before whom you will be judged, the Holy One blesssed be He. To teach us that we might not think we are important but to God we are.
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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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Are Your Ancestors Proud of You?
פרשת כי תבוא / י”ז באלול תשפ”ב
Many people go on genealogy sites to see who their ancestors were and are proud of them. The question that the Torah asks is would they be proud of you. Live your life so that they would be.
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Assume People Will Do Stupid Things
פרשת כי תצא / י’ באלול תשפ”ב
One of the commandments this week is that we are required to put a fence around the roof of a building. We do this because we assume that a person will go up on the roof and fall off. Our job to prevent, as much as possible people harming themselves through stupid actions.
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Spirituality & Returning a Lost Object
פרשת כי תצא / ט’ באלול תשפ”ב
The commandment to return a lost object to its owner is an important underpinning of a good society. If your find something, it is up to you to return it. We do this not only for society but for our spiritual well-being.
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The Key to Jewish Exceptionalism
פרשת עקב / י”ז באב תשפ”ב
In the second paragraph of the Shma we see that if we want to be like all other nations, we will suffer the fate of those nations. If we want to be exceptional, we have to teach our youth why we should be exceptional.
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Believe in God & Yourself
פרשת דברים / ה’ באב תשפ”ב
The sin of the spies is recounted in this week’s portion. The real sin that they committed was twofold. The lacked faith in God being able to help them in conquering the Land of Israel and they lacked faith in themselves.
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From Theory to Reality
פרשת דברים / ג’ באב תשפ”ב
As we begin the Book of Deuteronomy, we see that Moses goes over those commandments that the Jews will have to carry out once they arrive in the Land of Israel. Up until now these commandments were taught in theory. Now they will have to be carried out in reality.
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Choosing a Leader
פרשת פנחס / כ’בתמוז תשפ”ב
Moses has to find the next leader of the Jewish people in this week’s Portion. He chooses Joshua. The thinking is that Joshua knows how to speak to the people and how to make hard decisions, which is one of the qualifications of a leader. You can’t always be popular.