יום שני, ד׳ אלול תשפ״וMonday, August 17, 2026
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If so, why was Noah commanded not to murder (and, likely, other old commandments) as well? Apparently, there was something not yet completely intuitive, and that was the sanctity of life.
Yet in spite of Moshe’s best intentions, it is obvious that his blessings – as we have portrayed them – had little effect on the Jews once they reached the Land of Israel.
When we cannot fully understand God’s decision that accepting it shows our true allegiance to Him
Can God justifiably blame us for something we don’t know?
There is nothing wrong – and actually everything right – about loving God’s world. But to be significant, it must be a love grounded in enhanced awareness and appreciation of God.
Whether in its variation or in its norms, the world around us provides countless ways to see God. But that will only happen to someone who is looking for them. In other words if we really want to see God, we must also seek God.
Most of Devarim is Moshe’s series of parting lectures to the Jewish people. Two things about them are clearly felt – the first is that they are long, often abstract and sometimes even appear repetitive; and the second is that Moshe accordingly uses diverse tactics to keep the Jews listening.
The notion that all men are created equal is a modern myth. The truth is that all men are created differently
a different leader of the next generation steps up and takes action. That leader was Pinchas...True leaders like Pinchas don’t come out of leadership schools. When the time is ripe, they simply emerge.
Many of the commentators find a disturbingly strong rationale in the Jews’ complaint mentioned above. The complainers were essentially blaming Moshe for setting up a murderous trap for the two hundred and fifty men that contested the choice of Aharon and his sons as priests.
In this week's parsha, there is an unusually insightful process of how a little complaint can undermine a gigantic and noble enterprise:
Why may Kohanim not attend to the dead?
It might seem easier to pray alone to God, rather than with the various distractions of a communal setting. True, Jewish law actually recognizes this and tries to minimize these distractions by recommending a set seat, prohibiting holding objects, etc. Still, the many distractions are impossible to completely eliminate. Yet in spite of its drawbacks, we derive strength from doing things together with a group.
Perhaps in the midst of the great uncertainties created by the Coronavirus pandemic, it is all too easy to remember that we are not God. But the temptation to think otherwise still exists. And once the pandemic will be over and man will continue to build better and better tools to control his fate and his environment, that temptation will regain its strength
So who had it better, Moshe or Aharon?
The traditional understanding – that the Torah is referring to the monetary value of an eye – is not without its difficulties either
To what extent is a prophet of God allowed to improvise?
Though they share parents and ancestors, once the two lines diverge, the Torah tells us exclusively about Aharon’s descendants
Ya’akov’s mistake instructs us to understand that even if something appears to be good, that does not mean there isn’t a different way that might be even better
Is this the only question we should ask?
In one of the most mysterious verses in the Torah (Bereshit 35:8), we read about the death of Devorah the nursemaid, a character so minor that we have never really heard of her before
On the face of it, a conventional exchange between father and son, we see it nowhere else in Tanakh. Moreover both discussions take place at pivotal points in which the respective father-son relationships are tested to their limits.
Avraham, saw a world where people can acknowledge a huge and intractable gap between them, know it will not go away, and also build a strong and trusting friendship across tbe gap.
When Noach gets off the ark, there seems to be a whole new world order that surrounds him.
Irritation leading to growth...
“If God only commanded Moshe to present Haazinu, what was the need for Yehoshua to join in?”
Since we are taught that each person is like a universe, to casually dispense with one individual is like dispensing with an entire universe.
Many commentators wonder why not proffering bread and water is considered such a great crime. Because turning away goes from being a sign of neutrality to being an act of hostility.
How does contemporary Judaism deal with the great challenge of Torah laws no longer practiced?
One of the more fruitless political debates in the United States is whether strict restriction of gun permits would add to public safety. One of the reasons it is fruitless is that both sides muster flawed analogies to other societies.
In Judaism, since sin is not a foregone conclusion, we hold ourselves fully accountable for it. Likewise do we hold others accountable – if not to us, then certainly to God. And so the daughters of Tzelophad put this out about their father – and about everyone else.
In contrast to the previous generation – and as we will soon see more clearly – this generation was really saying, “Let’s get to our land already.”
We assume we know as well as our leaders less because they have failed to prove themselves or have shown deficiencies than because of our attachment to seeing ourselves a certain way. And, as was true of Korach and his group, we do so to our detriment.
There are two more positive lessons that can be learned. The first is to always second-guess ourselves. The second lesson is that no matter how devastating events may be, we must muster the courage and strength to keep going.
The priestly blessing in this week’s parsha begins with the famous request that God bless and keep/guard (shomer) the Jews. While the meaning of blessing is reasonably straightforward, the meaning of keeping or guarding is less clear.
Long before the Danites’ penchant for connection with gentiles would reach its climax in the days of Shimshon, the Torah warns them of its great dangers
Wishing you a Happy Passover and a Good Shabbos...
The ethics of each new birth represents a microcosm of that debate. We have good reason to hope that the education and upbringing we provide our children will ensure that they bring more good to the world than evil. But there is not a single one of us who can bring up even the best of our children to never do evil. And given that this is the case, giving birth is also an act of responsibility for the evil that one thereby adds to the world.
Events that took place after the sin of Nadav and Avihu elucidate the real issue behind whatever sin or sins they actually committed: They challenged the traditional hierarchy of children following their parents and juniors following their seniors. It is presumably this issue more than any individual sin that the Torah wants to bring to our attention.
For an interpretation to qualify as a good drash, it must present an insightful idea that is somehow enhanced by the original text.
Because sefer Vayikra is more difficult, we tend to look at it less. But because we look at it less, we also understand it less, which – in turn – keeps it difficult and less appealing. In a nutshell, that is what I call Vayikra Avoidance Syndrome.
So what is melakhah, and how is it different than avodah? And why is that only Moshe sees it that way. Finally, why is blessing something that seems to flow directly out of it?
Paradoxically, putting on the veil would help Moshe connect with spirituality but when he was actually speaking with God, Moshe would nevertheless remove it.
For most of us, sacred spaces help us to focus, whereas we would otherwise not focus at all. Hence they are worth the opportunity cost they create. But we are well advised to keep that cost in mind. The fact that we are able to focus on God in the synagogue does not mean we should forget God outside!
Without the excuse of not being completely sure about the truth of God and His commandments, there is still a doubt whether people will do what they know to be right and to their advantage.
It seems very likely that when the Jews put the blood on the doorposts, it was meant as a strong statement of protest against Egypt and about the holiness of life. In other words, whereas the Egyptians made even human life a commodity, the Jews were bidden to sanctify the essence of life even in animals.
We are sorely lacking signs from God today. They are lacking, since our courage and resourcefulness often end when we have no indication of what God wants from us. This is the tragic situation of God’s hiding Himself
Earlier commentators may well have still shuddered in awe when they thought of Ya’akov’s daughters – how could it be that they would exist and that we would not know about them?
Given Reuven's less-than-altruistic motivations, the Torah could have given us a much more negative spin on what occurred. But it doesn’t. That is because the bottom line is that Reuven did the right thing. And that is what the Torah cares about the most.
Understanding relationships leading to understanding the parsha
Avraham showed himself to be a mentor for all peoples that God created. If he had previously kept his distance, he would now go to the other extreme of marrying a Canaanite woman, and fathering and raising her children.
Listening to your biblical partner's voice
Why is the status or identity of this seemingly central tree not mentioned before Adam sinned. Was it permitted at that time or forbidden?
No matter how hard we work on ourselves, we can never be totally prepared for the challenges ahead. And that is actually a good thing. Not only would life be less interesting, but a great deal of its meaning would otherwise be taken away. As Rebbe Nachman said, “If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?”
Since not saying lashon hara is easier said than done, here is something to help you: Just remember what happened to Miriam!”
In view of the seeming sanctity that the Torah imparts to blood, why would it tell us to spill animal blood indiscriminately?
The delicate balance of the Jews place in the world: The impact of interacting with other cultures
The Torah knows that we are likely to understand the journey in the desert as essentially one long trip. And so it tries to make us stop and realize that there were actually two journeys and not just one. The first ended with the death of Aharon; the second began with resistance from the Canaanite king
History repeats itself: Israel extends the hand of peace to a neighbor and is rebuffed
The paradoxical truth of a very, very good land--Israel.
Constitutional democracy is a better form of spiritual government than either anarchy or totalitarianism. G-d wanted intellectual diversity and as close to universal accountability as possible.
Parshat Nasso and the issue of the sotah and coming face-to-face with our own responsibility and not just throw it on others.
Hoe the Torah establishes the value of the individual--and how that ensures humility.
That man is more than flesh is obvious to the Torah, but the Torah’s task is to make it obvious to man.
The retelling of the exodus at Pesach is meant to deepen our faith; and the excerpt from the Mishnah towards the beginning of the Haggadah presents a model for how to do that. It teaches us to follow the example of R. Elazar
Obviously, sin and happy are not words that go together well. But, says Rabbi Yochanan, when people admit to and atone for their sins, that is cause for happiness.
Paradoxically, with Moshe’s desperate act, something positive happened. When the people realized what Moshe was responding to, it shook them to their foundations.
Seven is possibly the most significant number in Jewish Thought.
The art--and history--of Jewish communication.
How did the Jews find grace in the eyes of the Egyptians, receiving gifts from their Egyptian neighbors as they left, when they were perceived as the source of all the plagues and destruction?
In our day of media over-reporting, we often think that we should know everything about our leaders. Perhaps it is better to know too little than too much. For when it comes to ethics, the Torah spares no one in reporting what falls short of the mark.
If Ya’akov’s words to Pharaoh were just an exercise in self-mortification about what was too late to change, there would be little to learn from them. But if, as is more likely, they represented part of a strategy of how to continue improving, there is actually a great deal we can learn from them.
Yosef’s struggle with his brothers was ideological, whether we are to influence the world by example from the private and safe existence of our tent (the brothers), or whether take more risks by going outside and being heavily involved with the rest of civilization (Yosef)
Ya’akov did not pray for Rachel to conceive because he did not believe in "forcing God’s hand." He asks, “Am I instead of God? God knows best whether to give children or not. All I can do is ask.”
Yishmael’s challenge was whether to come back at all. Having been so clearly rejected, why would he want to have anything more to do with his father Avraham?
The benefits of sacrificing-but not TOO much
Rather than keeping it only to herself, Chava showed her love for her husband by sacrificing her own consumption of the fruit, allowing him to eat part of it instead.
Sukkot is a holiday that brings a unique inner peace – a peace that would seem to resemble the messianic era, a universal acceptance of God’s moral and spiritual order; an order that is best advanced by helping the Jewish people serve God and further educate mankind.
It seems important for the Torah’s central prophet to have been someone with whom gentiles could identify. And being buried outside of Israel may well have been part of that
Moshe saw all the Jews as one whole, it was the ones in front of him who served as the representatives for all those who had lived and would live in the future.
The Torah's standard for convicting a criminal is set much higher than many contemporary systems of law, that accept one witness. In practice, that means the Torah prefers to let criminals off, rather than punish the innocent
Is the source for saying Birkat HaMazon as obvious as we normally assume?
As the Jewish nation and the Jewish state become more powerful, we have a greater responsibility to contribute more resources to developing nations. It would be a Kiddush HaShem.
Moshe was not able to see that Yehoshua was fit for the job. On some level, this seems strange considering their long-standing relationship.
The water supply in the wilderness had been dependent on Miriam’s presence. Hence, as soon as she dies, the Jews had no water. In turn, that lack brought about Moshe's disastrous interaction at the boulder.
Yehoshua and Calev's mistake was what they could have done earlier: They must have known their colleagues’ negative inclination. The Torah’s silence on whether they tried to change the mind of the other spies speaks to their own silence as well.
Three laws seemingly unconnected and out of place: theft from a convert; sotah; and nazir. Why are they here, in Parshat naso?
Behar is primarily about ways to prevent Jews from descending into cycles of poverty; Bechukotai reinforces the laws of Vayikra by spelling out the consequences of following or not following the laws
With the 10 Commandments, G-d is described as the One who took the Jews out of Egypt. In Parshat Kedoshim, He is described simply as being "holy." Both phrases set the tone for the list that follows.
The Meshech Chochmah states that had Israel not sinned with the golden calf, God would not have punished Aharon’s sons so severely.
In commenting on the story of Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s two sons who died while presenting a fire offering to God, Rashi does something very unusual. The famous exegete extraordinaire seems to contradict himself in very close proximity. First he tells us that Aharon’s sons were either guilty of being drunk while in the Temple […]
Appreciate that Pesach is NOT meant to end on the seventh day, but at Shavuot. With that in mind, we need to work harder to accept making the days of sefirat ha-omer into days akin to chol ha-moed
There is likely some connection between the prohibition of chametz on the altar and the chametz which is more likely on our minds as we rid our homes of this most challenging foodstuff.
From the beginning of the building project, the financial and physical contribution of all Jews was sought. There was a need to show that the Torah’s tabernacle was where all Jews stand equal before God
Paradoxically, the sin of the calf ended up strengthening Moshe and the Jewish people with a new consciousness.
Man is attracted to the short cut that the supernatural road provides; there is a place for the supernatural in God’s world. It is tucked away under lock and key not for us to use.
In fact, loudness and brightness are not intrinsically Godly at all. On the contrary, the truer place to find God is in the still-small voices all around us.
Towards the end of this week’s parsha, God speaks about a malach that he will send in front of the Jewish people but it is not clear what He is referring to. We will consider one understanding
No one is surprised that the Torah wasn’t given immediately after the Jews left Egypt, even though it was the first logical time for such an event to happen. But why not earlier or later on the trek?
The role that God played towards the Jews in the desert was not far removed from that of a parent. While they were on the desert, He provided them with the challenges that would allow them to mature
August 14, 2026 
