יום רביעי, כ״ג תמוז תשפ״וWednesday, July 8, 2026
Follow Us
Avraham Levitt is a poet and philosopher living in Samaria. He has written extensively on Jewish and Israeli art, music, and spirituality. He is particularly focused on Hebrew philology and the magic of late antiquity. He can be contacted at avraham@thegeula.com.
Read More
Avraham was a righteous individual in a mass of wicked depraved individuals and civilizations, and he was one single light in the face of a growing darkness.
If one who wants to be wise begins to believe of himself that he is special, then he will no longer be prepared to learn from everybody.
In Chovat HaTalmidim, the longest chapter concerns the struggle against laziness in students of Torah that the Aish Kodesh describes as the greatest blight upon a young mind.
The sages teach that derech eretz precedes the study of Torah (see Vayikra Rabba 9:3, among others); this follows from human nature wherein the physical needs must be met before the intellect can be developed.
All of this ultimately flows from Hashem. Hashem created Adam and Chava in the Garden of Eden, and He placed them there with the serpent so they could resist its charms. Only in that moment and in that place Adam and Chava failed.
Hashem tells Yechezkel to inform the bones that they are the house of Israel, fallen so far in exile it is as if they have been dead for untold eons. What seems beyond hope of recognition, let alone of restoration, is not beyond the power of Hashem to redeem.
They know that when Israel is faithfully performing the will of the Creator, then they have no power over us, but if, G-d forbid, Israel deviates from the proper course of action, they know their opportunity is at hand.
Even when we have no merit of our own, as the winter passes and the first shoots of spring emerge, the sanctity of our patriarchs works to our benefit to bring about the end of the exile.
We are not simply natural constructs, inhabitants of the planet Earth, but we are spiritual beings in service of our Creator. When we perform the mitzvot of blessing the new moon and of defining the calendar, we are accentuating this aspect of our identity.
The Aish Kodesh says we read this parsha every year before the giving of the first mitzvah on Parshat HaChodesh because first we must give ourselves over entirely to obedience to Hashem.
The power of Amalek is not limited to the physical destruction they seek to bring upon Israel. Amalek’s chief ambition is to destroy Israel morally and spiritually.
The idea that counting might lead to misfortune – that measures must be taken to avoid a plague – is unique to the Jews.
The Rebbe stresses that part of the nature of tzimtzum – the expression of Divine Will whereby Hashem makes it possible for some aspect of Himself to be present in every one of His creations – is that in recognizing and acknowledging the G-dliness in our material world, we give strength to these Divine aspects in the world as well as in ourselves.
The material world is everything outside of the Mishkan, as the Mishkan is a means for us to pursue transcendence, and for those who have been properly designated to traverse all of these worlds.
The worst violations of Torah law, corresponding to defects in the underlying character of the perpetrator, are three crimes due to which the first Beit HaMikdash was destroyed and which Rambam famously decreed one must be martyred for rather than violate: wanton bloodshed (i.e., murder), fornication, and idolatry.
There are only ever very few individuals who rise to this level, and even when all of Israel are serving Hashem faithfully and achieving our individual tasks, most people at best are just sparks of light and not enough to maintain an ongoing presence of Divine imbuement.
When we show kindness to one another and demonstrate that we can be identified with the principle of attending to the genuine needs of another, we also make ourselves worthy of Hashem’s attention to us.
As an integral part of this process, which is an integral aspect of natural law, wisdom increases both above and below in preparation for humanity to transcend its debased state.
Once the corruption has been removed from the Land and the exiles have been gathered, unified in the service of Hashem and freed from foreign occupation, then Yerushalayim and the other holy places can be rebuilt as they were in ancient times.
Certainly, Hashem has the power, if He wills it, to bring about redemption in a sudden fashion, as He did in Mitzrayim. However, if after our many centuries of exile we are still not worthy of redemption in our own merit, there are natural processes at work in the universe that will bring it about inevitably.
We must never fight falsehood with more falsehood or misinformation; our dedication to the truth is our most powerful weapon in the face of this onslaught.
In the political and historical affairs that unfold here in the world of events, we find manifestations of higher spiritual truths, and there are designated roles to be played by each of the two Mashiachs in the final conflicts and clashes that will precede the final redemption.
This outcome is anticipated in the Torah, the blueprint of Creation, according to which the intent was always for kings to arise and, in time, to fall.
The lighting of the menorah was one mitzvah among many mitzvot, arguably not even the most important mitzvah, that had come to be neglected under the oppression of the Seleucid Greeks.
The Arizal finds not only this earthly, historic struggle in these passages but the roots of corruption in Creation.
Hashem’s bounty descends from the sources of His will, and the deeds of the tzaddik ascend from the dust of the earth from which we are all made.
Typically, when we think of Esav’s hatred for Yaakov, we don’t first think of the Roman Empire or about gentiles in general. In fact this relationship remains complicated, but ultimately our role of being a light unto the nations entails uplifting them as well.
Avraham Avinu, who exemplified the attribute of kindness, purchased Me’arat HaMachpela as a final kindness to his beloved wife and to future generations of Israel.
There are times, mercifully limited in their frequency, when the servants of Hashem are tested and given an opportunity to transcend the base materialism and the limited perspective of, for example, the servants of Avraham who were left behind when he and Yitzchak proceeded to the akeida.
According to the Kedushat Levi, is what lies at the root of Avram’s question. He knows it is within the power of Hashem to miraculously multiply his offspring and he understands that Hashem has the right to give the Land to whomever He sees fit.
In Sodom the Hamas was so pervasive and in Mitzrayim the grip of slavery so unbreakable to the extent that nobody who lived in these societies had any hope for a better future.
It seems natural to him that the Torah would begin with the creation of the world. After all, the foundation of our beliefs and the basis for our election by the Creator for the purpose of carrying out His commandments is predicated upon the stories in the Torah that precede the Exodus.
Some of his most important contributions to Jewish mysticism are in the form of diagrams that were particularly unsuited to widespread transmission by the technology of his era.
One who fully comprehends higher truth understands that there are many valid approaches to achieving such awareness, and he loves and respects his fellow who shares this vision but who might have a different individual perspective.
Rav Kook examines the opening concepts of the parsha: The heavens should listen, the earth will hear, teachings fall like rain and sayings soak in as the dew. He explains that in our world, we find things in a pure state of nature and we also see them altered by the intervention of men.
On Rosh Hashana we blow the shofar, recite distinctive prayers, and perform Tashlich to recognize the Creator of the Universe as the source of all mercy and forgiveness.
During our exile – and indeed our exile goes back to the original exile from the Garden of Eden – the forces of corruption that hold us back from realizing our true potential and separate us from our Creator suffuse the world of our experience.
One consequence of the final redemption is that the nature of things themselves will be altered – their ability to receive and to reflect holiness will be enhanced.
When Israel fled Egypt, our redemption was not complete and neither was the destruction of the evil that had enslaved us.
In every exile, we are separated from our proper state of concurrence with Hashem, from our own true essence, and we are prevented from performing the tasks and observing the rituals that define our peoplehood.
When Israel is redeemed from exile, Ramchal explains, the Divine Presence (Shechina) that was exiled with us rises up to be reunited with her counterpart above the physical universe.
After the many stages of return from exile and rectification of our spiritual and intellectual state, which we will hopefully encounter in the coming weeks, the last step is to repair the physical body.
In general, in Jewish literature, association with animals is seen in a pejorative light. While certainly not anti-animal, classical Judaism sees humanity unequivocally as superior to the animals, following the account of Creation in the Torah.
According to Rashi, it is the will of Hashem that the nations residing in the land of Israel when the people of Israel cross the river be banished and eradicated.
When our own spiritual striving is met by the support of Hashem through His love for us, then we enter into His house.
Shmuel overcome his baser nature and his worldly urges in order to fully devote himself to leading Israel in purity and doing the will of Hashem.
The Maharal says that Hashem deliberately waited until after Miriam was punished for speaking lashon hara so that the spies would be given an opportunity to take to heart what befell that tzadeket and to draw the proper conclusions for their own conduct.
The author of the essay asserts that David HaMelech had this mizmor in the shape of a menorah inscribed on his shield that he carried into war, and his enemies fled before him.
Each of the leaders of the tribes brings a gift which is identical to the gifts of every other one. The Torah relates the gift of each and every tribe in detail, in spite of the fact that they are all the same.
R’ David opens his remarks on Shavuot by examining the word Anochi that he identifies with the essence of truth – the secret code revealing His G-dliness, the nexus of His inscrutable justice.
Originally, before its modern association with Sefirat HaOmer, Pirkei Avot consisted of only five chapters. This is why, for example, the Rambam’s commentary only addresses the first five. In this spirit there are also, of course, five books of the Torah.
Ben Azai teaches that it’s best not to consider which mitzvot are greater or lesser in value to the one who performs them because from beginning to do mitzvot one will add on more mitzvot, but if he does an aveira, then G-d forbid he may begin traveling down the other path.
Because when you reduce humanity to its essence, there is only the naked will and the Torah which complements it, so that man becomes a spiritual being, an enlightened consciousness.
Rav Kook teaches that in the natural world as it appears to us, the light of kedusha is hidden deep inside reality. It is often hard work to find it and extract it, and the day-to-day matters of existence as well as the events of history seem to bury it further.
Hashem took us out of slavery because a slave can never truly give himself over to a higher cause as he is not the owner of the self to give.
In order for Hashem to defeat the power of Pharaoh and Mizrayim and take us out of our predicament, He had to both overthrow the audacity of Pharaoh and elevate the spiritual sanctity of Israel at once.
There is a widespread custom to begin reading Shir HaShirim on the first of Nissan, in part because “the first shoots are seen in the land, the time of pruning has arrived, and the voice of the turtle dove can be heard in our land” (Shir HaShirim 2:12).
Following the victory over our physical enemies and the threat to our bodies, we must still overcome the spiritual obstacles placed in the physical world to dissuade us from achieving our destiny.
What all of these expressions share in common is Hashem’s careful attention to the detail in every matter, concerning every individual and community of individuals.
It’s interesting that the language used to describe the smaller stones, hewn (gazit), is identical to the prohibition against using metal implements to carve the stones for the mizbe’ach.
The importance of the collection of the half shekel for the process of redemption derives on its surface from the acknowledgment of the importance of every Jewish person and our unification into a whole in the service of Hashem.
There is another important parallel between the parsha and the haftara – the miraculous victory over an apparently superior enemy with the aid of Hashem.
In the end, justice will be served and all the nations who oppressed Israel will be punished, but Israel will at last be redeemed.
Because Pharaoh has set himself up as a god, because he has come to believe that he is the absolute ruler of Mitzrayim, and because the people have accepted this upon themselves, what befalls Pharaoh will affect all of Egypt.
There is a famous lesson taught regarding B’nei Yisrael in Mitzrayim that they had, over the course of their exile, descended to the 49th and penultimate level of corruption. Had they not been redeemed at that time they would have become irredeemable.
It is less well known that the Zohar there goes on to explain that these 70 years obtained from Adam gave life to David, but didn’t make him exceptional so that he would be able to complete the tasks given to him as the Mashiach,
We cannot achieve true unity in the physical world which is built upon division and fragmentation.
When encountering difficult texts in Scripture, it is usually productive to consult Rashi, and Rashi doesn’t disappoint in the present case.
All of these historical events occur, strange and terrifying for those who experience them, and very few can understand their significance at the time.
The commentators emphasize that in order for Hashem’s sovereignty to be complete, the nations of the world will have to accept His authority over them.
Above all, Ephraim becomes seduced by physicality. The little bit of pleasure he allowed himself dragged him into the pursuit of pleasure itself.
Malachi warns the nation of Israel not to take lightly the kohanim – past, present, or future – who are tzaddikim, who are worthy of their patrimony and who set an example by their own conduct for the proper characteristics of righteousness.
Much of the end of David’s life is marred by battle between the brothers and even occasionally between the brothers and their father over who will rule once David is gone.
Rabbeinu Bachye teaches that it is dangerous for a person to be counted as an individual, rather than to rely upon the communal prayers and collective welfare.
The covenant that was made between Hashem and Avraham still stands and Hashem intends to honor it.
Noach was a wise man from the last letters, going backwards – meaning that after everything has happened we can look back and see that he was the best one around.
One would not expect earth and heaven to remain locked together in just such a manner that enables life to flourish, and this has only been done for the purpose of allowing the human being to grow and to thrive in this environment.
You are my candle, Hashem, and Hashem brightens my darkness.
Even when Hashem doesn’t cause rain to fall and feed our crops, he provides moisture and sustenance through the dew of the earth.
Raba bar Rav Shila taught: “You will arise and be compassionate to Tzion because it is time to show her chen, the occasion has come.” (Tehillim 102:14).
A time will come when the world and all its inhabitants will be lost in darkness (ibid. 60:2). In the midst of this darkness, Hashem will shine His light upon Israel, and upon Israel will His glory be beheld.
Malbim on this pasuk says that she should rejoice because she will become a mother without the travails of childbirth.
The navi tells us that when Hashem decides to act to redeem Israel, He will do it in a way that all of the nations of the world will be forced to take notice.
For this reason money is compared to the wisdom of the nations of the world without Torah. It is merely a collection of shiny things.
As Malbim explains, the Land will be expanded in order to accommodate all those who return from the long exile. There will be room enough for everyone.
If a father has to punish his son, he always holds back a measure of what the boy deserves because he loves him. After the punishment he still worries that maybe it was too harsh.
We mourn because upon the return of the spies from the Land, the people of Israel mourned and we have still not recovered from that moral failure, and because in the times of the second Beit HaMikdash people couldn’t treat one another with simple kindness.
Shlomo also said, I praised the dead who had already died (Kohelet 4:2). Because there is no understanding among the living.
One thing worthy of note in our haftara is that the entirety of the first chapter is read, but the haftara continues three verses into the second.
The salient point of the navi Micha – in contrast to the message of Bilaam – is that when the time comes for Hashem to redeem His people, all of the historical forces and all of the races and cultures of humanity will fall into line as part of the divine plan.
Unfortunately, Yiftach would become a key participant in perhaps the bloodiest and most infamous civil war in Israel: that between Menashe and Ephraim.
It is worth understanding why Korach’s argument against Moshe was found to be utterly without merit while Shmuel’s is held up as the apogee of righteousness.
Shimshon is a tragic, and ultimately tragically flawed, character.
Abarbanel says that the Children of Israel are not compared to grains of sand simply because they are so many. Lots of things occur in great numbers but Israel isn’t compared to them.
Every mitzvah you perform heals some spiritual malaise that you might not even know you were suffering from.
Yirmiyahu knows that Hashem is all-powerful and that He is not limited by geopolitical and military realities. If Hashem wishes to reverse the process of conquest and cancel the exile, it is within His power to do so.
The Arizal teaches that the firstborn ought to have had the priesthood by right, except that Kayin abused this privilege and it was revoked from him as a result of his grave transgression.
Again and again Yechezkel recounts all of the miracles Hashem has performed throughout history for His people and all of the ways in which they betrayed Him.
The Gemara explains the discrepancy in the offerings in a beautiful way, to the effect that Israel will bring what they have available and Hashem will accept it.
When our haftara was designated for a week such as this, thousands of years ago, the sages saw fit to add another couple of verses to the end, spoken by Yirmiyahu almost a thousand years before that.
July 3, 2026 
