I don’t know about you, but when I message someone on WhatsApp, the easiest part of waiting for a response is to see the words ‘X is typing…’. At the top of the screen. That tells me that my friend has not only seen my message, but they are actively in the process of responding. Even before that response is received, I feel relieved just knowing that it’s coming. This week’s parsha shows that G-D does the same thing. ‘ראה אנוכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה’ ‘See, I present you today with a blessing and a curse’ (Devarim/Deuteronomy 11:26) The Vilna Gaon wondered why the Torah uses the words ‘b ..read more

What’s the best attitude to take when approaching something new? At the beginning of this week’s parsha, The Torah speaks about the Jewish people’s eventual conquest of Eretz Yisrael. Moshe gives them a ‘pep talk’: ‘Perhaps you will say in your heart – כי תאומר בלבבך ‘These nations are greater than me – רבים הגוים האלה ממני   How will I conquer them?’ – איכה אוכל להורישם   Do not be afraid of them’ -לא תירא מהם (Devarim 6: 17-18) Notice that I translated כי as ‘perhaps’. That wasn’t by accident-I was following the interpretation of the commentator Rashi. The way Rashi sees ..read more

Sometimes we come up against the opinions of others about ourselves. “you’re a lazy so and so”, “You won’t accomplish anything”. We take the words to heart, and they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The first people on record to address that mistake were the spies. In their damning report of their expedition to Israel they recounted: וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם (במדבר פרק י”ג פס’ ל”ג): “And we were, in our eyes, like grasshoppers. And so we were in their eyes [like grasshoppers] (Bamidbar 13:33) Rashi tells us that the spies had heard the giants talking ..read more

This week, the Torah teaches us the laws of observing the Shabbos. The 39 types of labour that were done to construct and de-construct the tabernacle are the basis of the various prohibitions of Shabbos. The Talmud in Tractate Shabbos (31b) has an interesting question. Among the prohibitions of Shabbos is the forbidden act of destroying something. We are taught that this does not apply if one intended to rebuild it again. But what if the destroyer planned to reconstruct what he’d taken down on a different spot? Would that be allowed? The Talmud suggests that it should be permitted, since the T ..read more

Parshas Nasso discusses a difficult situation: a wife who is suspected of cheating her husband. She is put through the rather humiliating experience of having to strip naked and drink the ‘Sotah’ waters, special water containing the full name of G-D (which is a lesson in and of itself, as it goes to show just how much holiness there is in a good marriage). If she is guilty, she simply explodes. If she is found to be innocent, she is promised to have beautiful children. Even if the woman is found to be innocent, she will find the experience to be rather humiliating. Couldn’t the Torah have foun ..read more

Is it ever appropriate to forego spiritual opportunities? Surprisingly, yes! In this week’s Parashah, we learn about the service of the Kohen Godol on Yom Kippur. Part of it includes selecting two goats, one which is offered as a sacrifice while the other is thrown off a mountaintop in a desert (La’azazel) as an atonement. The Mishnah in Yoma mentions that the person to deal with the goat designated for the ‘azazel’ is escorted by the ‘Yakirei Yerushalayim’- the ‘dear ones of Jerusalem’. The Bartenura explains that these people were stationed at the 10 posts between Jerusalem and the clif ..read more

My sincere apologies to my readers this week. I did hear an idea today and wrote it up, only to discover that it pertained to Parshas Nasso, to be read in 7 weeks time! Look out for next week’s post. Hopefully I’ll be organised enough to have it before Friday (yeah, right!) Good Shabbos/Shabbat Shalom ..read more

“The price of greatness is responsibility” is one of Winston Churchill’s many famous quotes. And unsurprisingly, there is a precedent for this in the Torah. The priests were on the last day of the 8-day inauguration of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. Now their service in the Mishkan begins in earnest. Hashem instructed Aharon to bring the first sacrifice; a sin offering made up of a calf, an Eigel. Rashi comments that this is to atone for the sin of the golden calf. The question is that this has already been achieved. The Torah tells us in Parshat Tetzaveh how Hashem commanded the Jewish people t ..read more

Ask anyone what the theme of tonight’s Passover seder is. You can bet that the answer will be one word: freedom. The Jews were oppressed by the Egyptians for two hundred years, G-D came along, destroyed Egypt with ten plagues, split the sea for us, washed out the entire Egyptian army. Then we were free from Egypt’s tyrannous stranglehold and could now do whatever we wanted. Well all that was certainly true. Apart from the last part. We couldn’t just ‘do whatever we wanted’. “For you are slaves to Me” said Hashem. You are under my jurisdiction now. You still have to answer to Someone. And ..read more

If you’re astute enough, you’ll notice that each festival is usually hinted to in the parashah read the Shabbos before it. Tzav discusses the laws of the various offerings brought by the Kohanim in the tabernacle (and later, the Holy Temple). One of them is Korban Todah, a thanksgiving sacrifice. This offering is brought after safely travelling over an ocean, taking a dangerous land journey, recovering from an illness or being released from captivity (today this obligation is fulfilled by making the ‘hagomel’ blessing. Please consult your local orthodox rabbi for details of the laws regar ..read more