A JEW ON A UNICYCLE
A JEW ON A UNICYCLE PARASHAT NASO In Temple times, if a woman was accused of adultery by her husband and there were serious grounds for suspicion, she was given a choice: accept a divorce, or stand up to a strange test. The test, if she opted for it, required her to drink “bitter waters”…
Read Full PostTHE PURPOSE OF CREATION
THE PURPOSE OF CREATION Shavuot The atheist believes that the world happened on its own and has no purpose. He believes we are here to survive, to make the best of it. G-d believers, though, have a question to answer. What is the purpose of Creation? What is its meaning? There are a lot of…
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COUNTING ON YOU Parashat Bamidbar Parashat Bamidbar begins with the census and the flags. The census was taken of male Jews from age twenty and up, of those eligible for the army. Two concepts are difficult to understand. If the Jews did not have any plans to go to war, what was the purpose of…
Read Full Post80/ 20
80/ 20 Parashat Bamidbar The book of Bamidbar is referred to as the Book of Numbers, because that is how it begins: taking the census of the Jewish people in the desert from the age 20 and up, the age from which males were eligible for the army. Each tribe was counted separately – from…
Read Full PostTIGHTROPING BETWEEN HUMBLENESS AND HAUGHTINESS
TIGHTROPING BETWEEN HUMBLENESS AND HAUGHTINESS Parashat Behukotay In Pirkei Avot, we are taught to be very, very humble (4, 4). Generally speaking, the golden rule that our Sages suggest is in the middle of two extremes. Not too flamboyant and not too sparing. Not too courageous and not too cowardly. (Rambam Deot 1; 4)…
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