Rabbi Levin's Blog

3,295 years ago, Hashem told Moshe how to divide the Land of Israel amongst the tribes.  Each tribe was a different size and had a different lifestyle, and therefore each received an appropriately sized lot.   Now usually in a situation like this, there would be a committee of experts to decide how the land should be apportioned. There was, in fact, such a committee, composed of one leader per tribe, and managed by Yehoshua and Aaron’s son Elazar (Bamidbar 34:16-29).  But this division was done in a very unusual way. While the portions of the land were divided based on size and need, it was not the committee that had the final say on who got which portion.  The land was divided by a lottery.  Specifically, the names of the tribes were written on pieces of paper and placed in one box, and the portions were placed in another box, and one paper was drawn from each box.  Whichever portion came up for that tribe was theirs.   Now this seems strang...

  A profile or two antisemites: Balak, the king of Moav, is afraid.  The Jews are coming and are going to perform genocide on his people and take his land.  It was a fabrication.  Hashem had warned the Jews not to go to war against Moav or take their land, because it was not to be part of the Promised Land until Moshiach comes.  But that didn’t stop Balak from trying to employ a greater antisemite than him, Bilaam. Bilaam was a known curser.  Hashem gave him great prophetic vision, and our Sages taught that in terms of prophecy he was on the level of Moshe.  But he didn't use it for good.  The Mishnah describes him as an arrogant man with an evil eye.  He had figured out the exact second of every day when Hashem’s wrath is revealed in the world, and he knew that in that moment any curse he gave would be fulfilled.   He had proven himself previously when the Emorites fought a war against Moav.  He cursed the Moavites, and the Em...

Imagine something that both purifies and defiles.  This is one of the paradoxes of the Red Heifer.  It is called “Chukat haTorah” -  the decree of the Torah - in this week’s Parsha, Chukat, implying something we accept on faith without human logic. Until the Temple was destroyed, there was a special purification process for someone who had come into contact, either directly or by being under the same roof, with a corpse.  This person was considered “tamei” - which for lack of a better word we translate as impure.  There is nothing intrinsically wrong with being in a state of impurity, but a tamei person may not enter the Temple grounds or partake of any consecrated food, like the meat of holy offerings. The Torah outlines the purification process.  A young cow that has purely red hair, not even two white or black hairs, is slaughtered and then burned together with some other items and the ashes are collected.   A Kohen puts water from a live spring int...

  Thirty years is a long time.  Good people leave a good impression on those around them, and great people leave a great impression.   With time though, the memories become more distant.  We think of our loved ones or heroes with admiration, and think back to our relationship with them and their contributions with nostalgia. It is 30 years since our revered rebbe passed away, and the last word I would use to describe how we think of him is nostalgia. Nostalgia is a memory of the past.  (As Rabbi YY Jacobson says, nostalgia is not what it used to be.)  The Rebbe is very much with us, and his impact, far from waning, has grown exponentially. I remember a few years after the Rebbe passed away, a good friend of  mine was bothered about people saying that the Rebbe lives on.  Then he traveled with me to the annual Shluchim convention in Brooklyn, NY.  At the famous banquet,, the “Roll Call” of all the Shluchim was announced by the late Rabbi Moshe...

We read an intriguing story this week. The Jews are ready to enter the land of Israel, and, based on a request by the people, Moshe sends spies to “tour the land.”  They return with very disturbing reports. Ten of them insisted that the nation would not be able to capture the land, and the two who disagreed were not allowed to speak up.  There is a seeming contradiction at the very beginning of the story. Moshe handpicked the 12 “anashim” - men.  Rashi points out that the word anashim is a statement of importance. “At that time they were “kesherim” - kosher, meaning righteous people, not malicious sinners as they turned out later. Nevertheless, we see that Moshe must have had some concerns. He changed the name of the leader of the tribe of Efraim, who would become Moshe’s successor, from Hoshea to Yehoshua (Bamidbar 13:16). Rashi tells us the name Yehoshua represents two words of prayer: Kah Yoshiacha - may Hashem save you from the scheme of the spies. (The word “scheme” ...

Moshe, the great leader, the man of G-d, throws up his hands in despair.  He had brought ten plagues on the Egyptians and freed the Jews. He had split the sea and brought, as we say in the Haggadah, another 50 plagues on the Egyptians at the sea.  When there was no food he provided miraculous Manna from Heaven every day for the entire nation. When there was no water he hit a rock and great streams of water poured forth, irrigating the desert wherever they traveled.  It was dangerous in the desert. Extreme heat and cold, with poisonous snakes and scorpions.  Clouds miraculously surrounded them and they spent 40 years in a safe cocoon. The clouds even absorbed the arrows and rocks that the Egyptians had shot at them on the way to the Sea of Reeds.  Now the people asked for meat, and the great Moshe was helpless. “From where do I have meat to give to all these people,” he cries out to Hashem. And after Hashem says he will provide meat for them for a month he sa...

  The day after a Festival is called “Isru Chag” - which is literally translated as “bind the Festival.”  It is based on the verse (Tehillim 118:27) “The L-rd is G-d, and He gave us light. Bind the sacrifice with ropes until [it is brought to] the corners of the altar.”   The word for “sacrifice” is “Chag” - which also means “Festival”, and the word for “ropes” is “Ba’avotim”, which also means “large and fat animals”.  Hence, the Talmud says, based on this verse, that whoever makes a bond for the holiday with additional food and drink like on the holiday itself, is considered as if one had sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the corners of the Altar.  Now this sounds funny.  How does eating meat compare to offering a sacrifice itself? I was thinking about this when someone in my Thursday night class (on Zoom, yes you’re welcome to join) asked:  Why are our holidays so much about food?  I was discussing the requirement to eat four festive ...