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Burn the Cow. Soak the Ashes. Tzav, Parah 5784

  This week we learn the laws of the Red Heifer when we read “Parshat Parah,” the third of the four special Torah portions that we read related to Purim and Pesach.  The connection between this week’s extra reading and Pesach is as follows:  Next Shabbat, before the month of Nissan begins, we will read about the Mitzvah of establishing the Jewish months by the renewal of the moon, and that Nissan is considered the first month.  That Parsha continues with the laws of the Paschal lamb sacrifice that was offered on the day before Pesach and eaten at the Seder. In order to be able to eat the meat of the Pesach offering, a person had to be in a state of ritual purity.  This meant that if a person had become ritually impure, they had to purify themselves before Pesach.  This is also related to this week’s regular Parsha reading, Tzav, which deals with the process of offering sacrifices, which all requires “Tahara” – everyone involved must be in a state of ritual purity. There are various for

Procrastinate Tomorrow - Purim 5784

  Purim begins this Saturday night, marking the great miracle when the attempted genocide of the Jews was transformed into a successful war of self-defense.  The Megillah story is well known, and if you study the Talmud and Midrash it becomes truly fascinating.   Let me ask you a question:  How is it possible that Haman didn’t suspect something fishy going on when Esther twice invited him to dine with her and her husband the King?  Esther had just approached the king, at great risk to her life, to ask him “for something,” which she would share with him at a banquet with him and Haman. At the feast, with Esther looking pale and weak from three days of fasting, the king asks her, in front of Haman, what he can give her, even offering her half his kingdom..  Rather than telling him why she went to all this trouble, she instead invites both mento another intimate meal tomorrow!  What was Haman thinking?  Where was his antenna?  Didn't he suspect a trap?  Now you could say that Haman wa

Surprisingly Equal - Pekudei 5784

  There were two lead designers in the building of the Mishkan - the portable Sanctuary that the Jews built in the desert.  The Torah says that Hashem “ imbued them with wisdom of the heart, to do all sorts of work of a craftsman and a master worker and an embroiderer with blue, purple, and crimson wool, and linen and [of] weavers, those who do every [manner of] work, and master weavers.” (Shemot 35:35.)  In other words, Hashem hand-picked these two men and gifted them with special wisdom and talents, as well as the capability to lead teams of craftworkers. Three times the Torah tells us that Betzalel from the tribe of Judah and Ahaliov of the tribe of Dan were chosen.  First,  when Hashem commands  Moshe to build the Mishkan, then when Moshe tells the people about the traveling sanctuary, and finally in this week’s Parsha, Pekudei, when the Mishkan is built.  The truth is that repetition is a theme when it comes to the Mishkan in general.  After recounting Hashem’s instructions to Mos

How do you Spin a Goat? Vayakhel 5784

  The portable Sanctuary that the Jewish people built in the desert had many parts made of all sorts of materials.  The roof, for example, was a multi-layered masterwork.  There  was a beautiful, multicolored tapestry woven with linen and three colors of wool, blue, red and purple.  On top of that were two types of animal skins, and between the skins there was cloth of spun goat’s hair.  The goat’s hair cloth was woven, as the Torah says, by wise women.  “ And all the women whose hearts uplifted them with wisdom, spun the goat hair.” (Shemot 25:36.)  Not just wise, but “whose hearts lifted them up with wisdom.”  Sounds like more than just wisdom. This verse contains another interesting term.  In the Hebrew, it does not say that they spun the goat hair.  It says that they spun the goats.  How do you spin a goat?  Rashi explains that this was actually an exceptional skill.  The women spun the hair while it was still growing on the goat and cut it later!  You wonder why they would do that

My People Ki Tisa 5784

What makes a great leader?  There are countless books on the subject, seminars and whole industries devoted to developing leadership.  I am struck by a sentence in this week’s Parsha that exemplifies the leadership that we see in Moshe, the leader of the Jewish people. Let’s look at the situation.  Hashem took the Jewish people out of Egypt with incredible miracles, including the plagues and the splitting of the sea. In addition to the physical miracles, the heavens opened, showing them Hashem’s light that is not normally seen on earth. Then came the revelation at Sinai, when Hashem Himself spoke to every single Jew.  His first words were “I am the L-rd you G-d.”   40 days later the people made a golden calf.  Everything that had been built was shattered.  The transformation from idol worshiping slaves in Egypt to a free nation devoted to serving Hashem was no more.  The journey, both spiritual and physical, toward establishing a holy land was now derailed. Moshe sees this rebellious a

When Hardware Tells you that you are a Gem

  Everything in the Holy Temple was glorious. The building itself, each piece of furniture was a beautiful piece of art made of precious materials, and even the utensils were made of silver and gold.  The Kohanim (priests wore magnificent clothes, especially the Kohen Gadol, (High Priest) who wore eight beautiful garments.  As the Torah states (Shemot 28:2):  You shall make holy garments for Aharon and his sons for honor and glory.” The central garment that the Kohen Gadol wore was the Choshen, which for some reason is commonly translated as Breastplate.  A more accurate translation would be heart covering, as the Torah states:  It shall be on Aaron’s heart.”  The Choshen was made of intricate weaving of four fabrics, blue, purple and red wools plus linen, each interwoven with fine gold thread. The reason for all this magnificence in the Temple, as explained by a great medieval sage in the book “Sefer Hachinuch,” is that human nature is such that we are affected by what we see.  People

A Home? For G-d?

  “Make me a home and I will live there.” (Shemot 25:8 - paraphrased.)  A person needs a home to live in.  Without a home, the Talmud says, we don’t feel like a person.  But Hashem?  He needs a home?  Isn’t He everywhere?   And how could you even try to contain the infinite light of Hashem in a building?  King Solomon, during the dedication of the first Temple, said (1 Kings 8:27): “Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; much less this temple that I have erected.”   I want to briefly suggest an answer on two levels.  Yes, Hashem is everywhere and there is no place devoid of His presence.  However, His presence is hidden from us, buried so to speak in nature.  We look at the world and we see physical things.  The Divine energy that animates everything is not visible to us, even though nothing can exist without it. The Holy Temple was an exception.  In the Temple there were miracles happening constantly, as Pirkei Avot (5:5) says: “Ten miracles were performed for