THE BROKEN LETTER "Therefore say: Behold, I give him My covenant of peace" (Bamidbar 25:12). After Pinchas’ brave actions at the end of parashat Balak – he killed the chief of the tribe of Shimon and his Midianite lover while they were engaged in a public promiscuous...
Read MoreRead MoreTHE NATIONS AND THEIR WARS “Therefore, it is said in the book of the Wars of the Lord: Vahev [the name of a place that the Israelites conquered] by storm, and the tributaries of the Arnon.” (Bamidbar 21:14) The narrative of the book of Bamidbar, from Behaalotcha...
Read MoreRead MoreWHEN CONFLICT BREEDS ABSURDITY “And they assembled against Moshe and against Aharon and said to them: ‘You take too much upon yourselves! For the entire congregation, all of them, are holy, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves over the assembly...
Read MoreRead MoreWE KEEP SHABBBAT…OR DO WE? “The Children of Israel were in the wilderness and they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moshe and Aharon, and to the entire assembly. They placed him in custody,...
Read MoreRead MoreSECOND TIME AROUND “There were men in the camp who were impure by means of a corpse, and they were unable to offer the paschal lamb on that day; and they approached Moshe and Aharon on that day. Those men said to him: We are impure...
Read MoreRead MoreOUR INDIGENOUS CULTURE “When Moshe went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubs. And He (God) spoke to him.”(Bamidbar...
Read MoreRead MoreRELEVANCE “In the third month from the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, on this day, they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai.” So begins the narrative of ma’amad har Sinai, the assembly at Mt Sinai, the most transformative event in Jewish history. The...
Read MoreRead MoreOUR INDIGENOUS CULTURE “When Moshe went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubs. And He (God) spoke to him.”(Bamidbar...
Read MoreRead MoreTHE VICTIM AND HIS CHEERLEADER “If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him – proselyte or resident – so that he can live with you.” (Vayikrah 25:35) This verse describes the plight of a person who has fallen on...
Read MoreRead MoreCHOOSING YOUR SOULMATE “A licentious woman, or a profaned woman, they shall not marry and a woman divorced from her husband they shall not marry, for he [the cohen], is holy to his God.” (Vayikrah 21:7) Cohanim are limited in their choice of marriage partners. When seeking...
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