Torah Thoughts, Stories, and Inspiration on the weekly Parsha
In this week’s Parsha, a census is taken of Klal Yisroel and all the shevatim were counted. Each time a shevet was counted, the resulting number was rounded off to hundreds. For example, shevet Reuven’s count was 46,500 people and shevet Shimon’s count was 59,300 people. However, there is one exception to this: Shevet Gad….
Read More “Parshas Bamidbar Inspiration: Every Jew is Priceless” »
In this week’s Parsha, the Yidden are traveling through the Midbar. The pasuk says V’chi yamuch achicha, Umata yodo imach – if your brother becomes impoverished and stretches out his hand – vehechzakta bo – you should give him strength. If a person needs help or assistance you should care for him and support him. There…
In the beginning of this week’s Parsha, the pasuk starts off, “Emor El Hakohanim” – say to the Kohanim… right after, the pasuk says “Vamarta Aleyihem” – and say to them. Rashi says that the Kohanim received a double charge. They were charged to protect their kedusha and “Lehazir Gedolim Al HaKetanim” – they were…
In this week’s Parsha, we are commanded “V’ahavta l’rei’echa kamocha, you shall love your neighbor like yourself. There is an obvious question here. What exactly does this mean? How is it possible to love someone else as we love ourselves? Isn’t that counterintuitive? After all, we are wired to fend and protect ourselves. We are wired…
Read More “Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim Inspiration: Is Love Possible??” »
In this week’s Parsha, the Torah speaks about someone contracting tzaraas, a lesion on the skin that appears due to different types of sins. The pasuk says “Adam ki yieyeh…” – A person who contracts tzaraas should be brought to Aharon Hakohen, or one of his sons, the kohanim. Someone who is presumed to have…
In this week’s Parsha, the pasuk says, u’fashat es begadav, the Kohen, divests himself of his holy priestly clothing, velavash begadim acherim, he puts on ordinary simple clothing, vehotzi es hadeshin, in order to remove and dispose of the ashes. The question is why? Why do we require the holy Kohen to do the menial…
In this week’s Parsha, the pasuk says, “Adam ki yakriv mikem karbon lashem – when a person from you offers a sacrifice to Hashem.” There is a question here: The Torah could have simply said Adam ki yakriv karbon lashem – when a person brings a sacrifice to Hashem. Why does the Torah use the…
In this week’s Parsha, Hashem’s home, the Mishkan is finally inaugurated. After a seven-day process in which Moshe had to assemble and disassemble and build and demolish the Mishkan – on the eighth day it was finally permanent. On the eighth day the Mishkan was finally ready. The question is why? Why all the upheaval?…
In this week’s Parsha, we learn about the men and women who donated gold and material for the building of the Mishkan. The pasuk says, vayavo’u ha’anashim al hanashim, which literally means that the men ascended to the women. Seemingly, the pasuk should have said vayavo’u ha’anashim im hanashim – the men and women came…
Read More “Parshas Vayakhel: When You Fall Down You Get Back Up!” »
In this week’s Parsha, we learn about the vestments that Aharon HaKohen wore in his service to Hashem. One of the special things that Aharon wore was the choshen, the breastplate which Aharon wore on his heart. The choshen had the names of all the twelve shevatim inscribed on it, representing the Yidden, and symbolizing…
