Category: Bamidbar

Everyone Counts!

(Torah Portion Bamidbar) Everyone Counts! The Holiday of Shavuos which will commence this Saturday night and continue through Monday night, commemorates G-d’s Revelation at Mount Sinai when He Proclaimed the Ten Commandments in the presence of the entire Jewish Nation. The Revelation could not take place until every single individual was accounted for. From this …

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Our Natural Instincts

(Torah Portion Naso) Our Natural Instincts This week’s portion Naso, contains 176 verses, the greatest number of any portion in the Torah. This number 176 is found in other areas of our tradition. For example, the largest chapter in the Book of Psalms (119) contains 176 verses and the largest tractate of the Talmud, Baba …

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Books of Moses

(Torah Portion Bha’aloscha) Books of Moses If you were to ask anyone, “How many Books are there in the Torah?” The overwhelming response would be, “Five Books of Moses.” This is in fact the correct answer. However, the Talmud actually divides the Torah into seven segments. The source for this is in this week’s portion …

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Amazing!

(Torah Portion Shlach) Amazing! The Parsha begins with G-d instructing Moshe our leader, “Send for ‘yourself’, spies into the land of Israel.” The usage of ‘for yourself’ is strange. Throughout the Torah, G-d instructs Moshe to share His word with the Jewish people without leaving it up to Moshe to instruct it to the Jewish …

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Entitlement

(Torah Portion Korach) Entitlement The Torah relates that Korach led a rebellious group against our leader Moshe, casting doubt on his Divinely appointed leadership. After various attempts were made by Moshe to calmly diffuse the claims, Korach together with his family and congregation received a spectacular reprimand from G-d. They and their belongings were miraculously …

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Reminders

(Torah Portion Chukas) Reminders The Torah records the death of Aaron stating that he was buried on Har Hahor, which is situated on the border of the Land of Edom. Similarly, when the Torah records the passing of Moshe, it says he was buried on Har Nevo, which faces the house of Pe’or. Rabbi Yonoson …

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He Was Impressed

(Torah Portion Balak) He Was Impressed A Rabbi walking down the street with his students was passed by a car and a passenger yelled out disparaging remarks towards the Jews. To their surprise, the students overheard the rabbi say to himself, “Thank you.” They asked him why he responded that way to such demeaning epithets. …

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Individual Power!

(Torah Portion Pinchos) Individual Power! A terrible plague ran rampant through the Jewish encampment in the desert claiming the lives of 24,000 men. One individual, singlehandedly identified the source of the plague and heroically eliminated it, causing the plague to come to an immediate halt. The person who acted bravely and daringly was Pinchos. The …

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Hey Taxi!

(Torah Portion Matos/Massai) Hey Taxi! Contrary to the common expression, “Talk is cheap,” Judaism places a high value and responsibility on the uttered word. For example, taking a vow is taken seriously by Jewish law. Whether one expresses a personal prohibition on something that is otherwise permissible or if one makes a vow to undertake …

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