Weekly Torah Lesson Parasha: Re eh (to see) Torah: Devarim 11:26 – 16:17 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:” (De 11:26 ) “Three times a year all your males shall appear before Avinu Elohekah at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before Avinu empty-handed.” (De 16:16) See…appear…do not appear empty! ** We are commanded to “see” and to “be seen”. … [Read more...] about What Do We “See”?
Quality vs Quantity
Weekly Torah Lesson Parasha: Ekev (as a result) Torah: Devarim 7:12-11:25 Devarim 8:1 All the commandment which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Avinu swore to avoteinu. ** In this verse, as in several others, the word translated “commandment” is “mitzvah”. Mitzvah is the singular version of the word that is usually used, “mitzvot”, the plural version, usually translated commandments. So we learn … [Read more...] about Quality vs Quantity
Forbidden Images
Weekly Torah Lesson Shabbat Nachamu (Comfort) Parasha: V’et chanaan “and I pleaded..” Torah: Devarim 3:23 – 7:11 ** I remember the time in my life when I decided that I had to remove every “image” from myself and my home. At that time I had a couple of gold crosses, a gold “pepper corn”, statues of elephants and a large wooden fountain that had a human like face carved into it. It took a couple of days but I managed to give away the gold, throw away the elephants and burn the … [Read more...] about Forbidden Images
Rosh Chodesh Av
At sundown, the end of Thursday, 8/1/19, the month of Tamuz comes to its end and Rosh Chodesh Av begins. Rosh Chodesh is not a prescribed monthly Shabbat but it is commanded to be “observed”. In 1Samuel 20, we see that particular Rosh Chodesh was being observed for two days . Some use this recorded biblical event as proof that the current calendar based method of determining the arrival of Rosh Chodesh today was in use earlier than the construction of the … [Read more...] about Rosh Chodesh Av
The Cloud and The Journey
Weekly Torah Lesson Parasha: Masei "journeys of"Torah: B’midbar 33:1 - 36:13 “Be mid bar 9:17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud stayed, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. 18 At the commandment of Avinu the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of Avinu they pitched: as long as the cloud stayed on the tabernacle they rested in their tents. 19 And when the … [Read more...] about The Cloud and The Journey
Better Ideas
Weekly Torah Lesson Parasha: Matot (Tribes) Torah: B’midbar 30:2 - 32:42 When Avinu gave man “a living soul”, he wanted him to use his intellect to “work the land ”and “have dominion over the earth”. Man seems to flourish under these conditions but on several occasions in the Scriptures we read where man thinks that he “has a better idea” than what he was told to do. One of these “occasions” appears in this week’s Torah portion. 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children … [Read more...] about Better Ideas