Torah Thoughts, Stories, and Inspiration on the weekly Parsha
In this week’s Parsha, Aharon, the Kohen Godel was charged to light the Menorah, The Torah says, “V’yas k’ein Aharon – Aharon did so.” Rashi says that this means that when Aharon lit the menorah, he didn’t deviate from Hashem’s command even one iota. Isn’t this obvious? Aharon got instructions from Hashem. Of course, Aharon wouldn’t change…
Read More “Parshas Behaaloscha: Are You a Religious Robot?” »
In this week’s Parsha, a census is taken of Klal Yisroel. The shevatim (tribes) are all counted. Each time a shevet is counted, the resulting number is rounded off to hundreds. For example, shevet Reuven has 46,500 people, shevet Shimon has 59,300 people, and shevet Yehudah has 74,600 people. However, there is one exception: There’s…
In this week’s Parsha (26:3), The Torah promises that if the Jewish people en masse keep the Torah, they will be blessed with every conceivable blessing. They will be blessed with prosperity, security, and satiety. Immediately after the pasuk (26:6) says, Hashem promises, I’ll give you peace. There is a question here: You have every…
In this week’s Parsha (25:35), the pasuk says V’chi yamuch achicha – if your brother becomes impoverished – Umata yodo imach – and he is in close proximity to you– vehczaktah – you should give him strength. Literally, the pasuk means that if a person gets impoverished, poverty-stricken, or indigent you should give him a lift – you should take care…
In the beginning of this week’s Parsha, the Kohanim are warned to avoid Tumah (impurity). The pasuk starts off “Emor El Hakohanim” – say to the Kohanim… On this Pasuk, Rashi says that the Kohanim were charged, “Lehazir Gedolim Al HaKetanim” – to make sure that the adults admonish the children and warn them how to behave. I heard from…
Read More “Parshas Emor: The Key to Raising Good Children” »
In this week’s Parsha (19:18) we are commanded “V’ahavta l’rei’echa kamocha, you shall love your neighbor like yourself.” I would like to share with you two questions: Why does the Torah stipulate kamocha – to love someone like yourself? Wouldn’t it have been sufficient to say, V’ahavta l’rei’echa– love your neighbor? Secondly, how can we love someone as…
Simchas Yom Tov – Genuine Happiness The Rambam in Hilchos Yom Tov states that a person and his family must be happy on Yom Tov, as it says, V’smachta b’chagecha – And you shall rejoice in your Festival… There is a special mandate to be happy on Yom Tov and do things that make us…
In this week’s Parsha (14:2), Parshas Metzorah, we learn about the purification process for the person who was stricken with Tzaraas. According to the Mishnah (Negaim 2:2), The Kohen must make every effort to not place the person in a compromising position. Any element that may cause the affliction to look brighter is discouraged. The…
In this week’s Parsha (9:7), Aharon the Kohen Gadol was supposed to perform the inaugural service at the Mizbeach (altar), but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Moshe had to tell Aharon to go close to the Mizbeach. Why? Why did Moshe have to tell Aharon to go to the Mizbeach? What was going…
In this week’s Parsha, the pasuk says, u’fashat es begadav, the Kohen, the priest, divests himself of his holy priestly clothing, velavash begadim acherim, he puts on ordinary simple clothing, vehotzi es hadeshin, in order to remove the ashes, to dispose of the ashes. The question is why necessitate, why require the holy Kohen to…
