This week’s Parsha introduces us to the first Jew, Abraham. During one of his early travels, a seemingly insignificant detail is given: And from there he relocated to the mountain, east of Bethel and pitched his tent there… (12:8) The Torah is not a history book; it records significant details with the purpose of giving […]
What does it take to survive? Although Dianna Ross famously wrote, “Oh no not I, I will survive/For as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive,” love is not a miracle elixir that can cure terminal illness or prevent national tragedy. A few thousand years ago, G-d saw that humanity […]
A Mussar Shmooze is a talk given with the intent of reaching the heart and rousing emotion. It became an effective tool in the Mussar movement, an undertaking that educated students in a program of self-knowledge, self-growth and learning how to fulfill one’s potential. Although the Mussar movement began in the 19th century, the first […]
And the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab…. (34:8) The men mourned when Moses died but when his older brother, Aaron, died sometime before that, the entire house of Israel cried over his loss, then, everyone, both men and women, mourned his loss. This Parsha occupies itself with the praise […]
This week’s Parsha contains the poetic parting words of Moses: Listen heavens and I will speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth! (32:1) This verse begins Moses’ farewell song to the People by calling upon the heaven and earth to be witnesses to what he will be saying. He asks the people […]
Write this song for yourselves… (31:19) Jewish Trivia Question: What is the last mitzvah in the Torah? The last of the 613 mitzvos is the obligation to write a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll). Imagine if there would be a law in the United States that every citizen had to write a copy of the constitution. […]
When penicillin was first discovered, only small amounts were available. At that time, the following issue was addressed in halacha (Jewish law): What should a doctor do if he has only a single dose of penicillin and a number of patients who need it? How should he decide to which patient it should be administered? […]
This week’s Torah portion contains rebuke and dreadful consequences for the Jewish community if we allow Jews to abandon their Judaism. After stating the terrible events that will occur, the rebuke closes by mentioning that the ultimate catalyst for these bad things is “as the result of your not having served HaShem, your G-d, with […]
When you will go out to war against your enemies… (Deut. 21:10) This week’s portion begins with various laws concerning warfare. However, our sages tell us that the opening verse hints at another type of war; the war we have with our internal selves. In Judaism it’s called the Yetzer Hara (the evil inclination), the […]
This week’s Torah portion begins with a directive for judges to be scrupulous in upholding the law. The Torah expresses this mandate in a peculiar way. Justice, justice you shall pursue so that you will live and take possession of the land that G-d… gives you (ibid.16:20) The discerning reader will be bothered by the […]
The Torah states that because Jews are children of G-d (Deuteronomy 14, 1), we are forbidden to excessively mourn the loss of a parent by doing such things as cutting one’s self or tearing out the hair on one’s head and making a bald spot. The commentary of Chizkuni (13th century) explains that when a […]
Who feeds you manna in the wilderness, which your forefathers did not know, in order to afflict you and in order to test you; to do good for you in your end? (ibid. 8:16) Question: Why is manna-which fell daily-called an affliction and a test? Ancient Jewish wisdom says that the manna was Heavenly food; […]
You shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your resources. (6:5) The verse above informs the reader that there is a mitzvah to love G-d. A theological difficulty arises from it: How can love be an obligation? Love is a feeling; either you have it or […]
Moses: I cannot carry you alone…you are today as the stars of the heavens in abundance. (Deuteronomy 1:9-10) Why couldn’t Moses carry the Jewish nation? The next verse explains, “G-d has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today as the stars of heavens…” Why did Moses use stars as the metaphor and not sand on […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Matot-Masay (Numbers 30-36) Forks Over Knives; Voices and Choices …but it must be purified with purifying waters. (31:23) One of the cryptic aspects of Jewish observance is the mikvah, a ritual body of collected rainwater or a natural spring. It is used on various occasions having to do with a change […]
The main character in the beginning of this week’ Torah portion is Pinchas, who meted out punishment of a licentious act. Concerning Pinchas, G-d said “Pinchas avenged My vengeance…”(ibid 25:11). According to the commentary of Rashi he did what G-d would have had to do. As a result, Pinchas was rewarded by having his stature […]
The 20th century was the bloodiest in all of human history and serves as testimony that two beloved theories about humanity are wrong. These ideas emanated a few hundred years ago during the Enlightenment and remain popular in secular humanist ideology. One is the idea that all moral questions, all issues of right and wrong, […]
Sichon, the king of the Amorite nation did not let the Jewish people pass through his borders on their way to the Land of Israel. Instead, he and his nation came out to wage war against them. The Jews were victorious and they temporarily settled in his city of Cheshbon. The poets of the time […]
One Sentence Synopsis of this week’s Torah portion: A man named Korach convinced 250 men to join him in challenging Moses’ leadership and accuses him of placing his (Moses’) own interests before the rest of the people [due to his choice of his brother, Aaron, as Kohen Gadol (High Priest)]. The Almighty commands Moses to […]
Imagine getting a phone call from your a beloved aunt who tells you she is sending a gift. When it arrives, you call the bomb squad to make sure it is safe. This scenario seems absurd but something even more ludicrous happened to the Jews while they were traveling in the desert. They sent twelve […]
This week the Torah tells us that the Children of Israel once again complained; they wanted meat in the desert. They recalled what they considered a better time in a better place–Egypt! Like many of us who are discontented with the world we live in, they spoke about the good old days. The rabble that […]
(There is a new feature at the end of this dvar Torah. It is a short prayer and meditation suggestion on based on the dvar Torah.) One of the most controversial topics in the Torah is the Sotah, the suspected adulteress. Adultery is an equal opportunity misdeed; both men and women are commanded not to […]
When the cycle for the weekly Torah readings was established centuries ago, this week’s Parsha was designated specifically to be read this Shabbos. The reading is from the first few chapters of the Torah’s forth book, Numbers and always proceeds the holiday of Shavuos. What connection is there between this week’s Parsha and Shavuos, the […]
The 26th chapter of Leviticus sets out with stunning clarity the terms of Jewish life under the covenant. On the one hand, there is an idyllic picture of the blessing of Divine favor. If Israel follows G-d’s decrees and keeps His commands, there will be rain, the earth will yield its fruit, there will be […]
Rick is going to purchase a new pair of glasses from an online discount store but is not sure which pair to buy. He goes to an optician, tries on many pairs of glasses and after a half hour with the salesperson, finds the pair that suits him. He then goes home and buys the […]
For a seven day period you shall live in Sukkot (“booths”). Every resident among the Jews shall live in Sukkot. (Leviticus 23:42) The Torah instructs us to live in a Sukkah for seven days. We eat, sleep, and relax there as we would in our own homes. It isn’t difficult for most people to build […]
An urban legend claims that someone with a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery. I don’t know the source of this incorrect myth but Jewish mothers for decades have successfully used it to prevent their teenage sons/daughter’s from getting tattoos. Even though it won’t disqualify a corpse from burial in the Jewish cemetery, […]
What thought comes to mind when you think of holiness? For most, it conjures up people living a life of seclusion and abstinence where one is in a state of serenity and is free to ponder life’s conundrums. The Jewish view of holiness is incompatible with this notion. This week’s Torah portion begins with the […]
The main idea of Passover is not merely abstaining from bread, cake, crackers, and other leavened products, it is to identify with the theme of the holiday. Freedom is what we focus on during Passover. We were freed from the Egyptians, as we say in the Haggadah, Had not the Holy One taken our ancestors […]
If we could sum up the entire holiday of Passover in one word it would be “freedom.” We became free on a national level and ultimately that allowed us to be free as individuals. Herein lays the challenge: there may no longer be shackles on the people but if they don’t change their mentality and […]