פרשת בלק / י”א בתמוז תשפ”ב
In this week’s portion Balaam is the main character but it is named after Balak. The reason for this is that while Balaam does most of the work, he does so at the behest of Balak. Balaam is simply a hired gun. The reason that Balak hates the Jews is simply he hates God centered morality.
פרשת בחוקותי / כ”א באייר ץשפ”ב – ל”ו בעומר
This week’s portion has the blessings and the curses. That if we follow the Torah then great things will occur but if we do not then disaster will happen. The interesting thing is that the curses will be caused by a breakdown in society. God does not have to curse us, we can do that all by ourselves,
פרשת אמור / י”ב באייר תשפ”ב – כ”ז בעומר
The Torah starts the portion by detailing the physical & moral attributes of what we expect of the Priests. It ends with an admonition against desecrating God’s name. It is important to remember that when someone identifies as a religious person he represents God. His behavior is a reflection of God.
פרשת קדושים – י”ז בעומר / ב’ באייר תשפ”ב
This week’s portion starts with “you will be holy”. Note that it does not say that we are holy but that we have to strive for holiness. Then it explains that we become holy through proper ethical and moral behavior, not by sacrifices and prayer.
פרשת אחרי מות – י”א בעומר / כ”ו בניסן תשפ”ב
After discussing the importance of the sacrificial rites, the Torah returns to discussing personal morality. This is emphasize that what we do privately is more important than what we say publicly.
כ”ח בתשרי תשפ”ב / October 4, 2021
Unlike ancient cultures which recorded the flood but gave no moral reason for the flood or why the survivor was chosen, the Torah stresses that Noah was chosen because he was righteous.