Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Torah for your table- Give a profound Dvar Torah and rock the Shabbos table in one minute!


In this weeks parsha, Bo, as Moshe tells Pharaoh that all of Bnai Israel  needs to leave Egypt to serve Hashem, Pharaoh tells Moshe that his plans to take the Jews into the desert will fail. Pharaoh was able to foresee the future of the Jewish people, because he was an expert astrologer. According to the laws of astrology, which are in the accordance to the laws of nature, Pharaoh saw the star Ra’a, which spells blood, hovering above the Jewish people in the desert. He informed Moshe that according to the laws of nature, the Jews would perish miserably in the desert.
When Bnai Israel heard Pharaoh’s words they were terrified. Being an astrological expert, Pharaoh was correct in predicting that the star Ra’a symbolized blood for the Jewish people. However, Hashem, in His great might, changed that negative decree upon the Jewish people to the blood of bris mila, when He commanded the men to circumcise themselves upon entering Israel. 
In all we can see how the laws of nature do not occur as we presume. There is no natural order in the world because the world runs accord to Hashem’s order. Hashem has made the world according to His will and His law; thereby, He can change any decree, or law of nature, as He sees fit.

Call for Modesty


(Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

Moshe warned Pharaoh of the 10th plague, that being the slaying of the first-born. Pharaoh thought, this plague does not sound so bad, how many first-born children could there possibly be right, several hundred at most? However, Pharaoh forgot how immoral the Egyptian society was, men and women had a number of first born children fathered and mothered by different men and women.
Unfortunately, this trend of promiscuity has become prevalent, and our society has become desensitized by its frequency. Rather than progressing from the primitively promiscuous times of ancient Egypt, our secular society has tainted the beauty of monogamy and modesty in relationships. We must strive as a nation to be the example for the world to follow what constitutes a beautiful monogamous relationship. Moreover, the Torah provides us with the blueprint in how to have and maintain relationships that nourish the body and soul. We need to remind the world once again that modesty in relationship can be reinstituted.

This weeks Parsha- Bo



Karma moves in two directions. If we act virtuously, the seed we plant will result in happiness. If we act non-virtuously, suffering results.
Sakyong Mipham
 In this weeks Parsha, Moshe is instructed from Hashem to continue plaguing the Egytians. From the plagues brought forth, we can see Hashem is a big believer in Karma. Since Pharaoh, yet again, refused to let the Jews free, Moshe stretched out his hand, as per Hashem’s request, and swarms of locust descended upon Egypt. Strangely, the sight of the locusts in the clouds excited the Egyptians. Because the Egyptians were starving at this point, seeing that the plague of pestilence destroyed their livestock and the plague of the hailstones destroyed their crops, they were hoping they could barrel and salt the locusts for food.  
However, the Egyptians were in for a terrible surprise. These locusts were not the delicious meals they had hoped for. Rather they were killing machines equipped with teeth like iron, deadly saliva, wings like eagles, claws like lions, and horns similar to an oxen. They poked out the Egyptian’s eyes and they were insatiable to eat. They devoured everything, from clothes to jewelry; they darkened the sky and clogged up the wells. Not a single blade of grass was left in the land.
Here we can see how Hashem punished the Egyptian’s with this plague for midda-keneged-midda (measure for measure), for having the Jews sow their crops--now the locusts devoured everything the Jews had sown. It is clear to see the old aged saying, what comes around goes around, karma, is being applied even by Hashem.
Moreover, the next plague, darkness, also symbolizes the idea of “measure for measure.” The Egyptians would order the Jews to carry candles and torches for them in dark streets and the Egyptians put the Jews in dark prisons. So to, Hashem punished the Egyptians with darkness, as they imparted the same cruelty upon the Jews.
Additionally, with the tenth plague, the killing of the first born, Hashem killed the Egyptian first born children, just as Pharaoh had ordered that all first born Jewish boys were to be killed. Symbolically, the Jewish people are Hashem’s first born son, and the Egyptian’s were cruel to them because of that. In return, Hashem killed all their first born children.
As we can see Hashem’s retribution against the Egyptians for their mistreatment of the Jews. Furthermore, we should use this as an example for our own lives. The golden rule speaks for itself-“Treat others as you wish to be treated” (that is, saying you are not a masochist or sadist). Need I say more? This is a simple principle to understand, but unfortunately too many of us forget to apply it to our everyday lives.  We should all strive to live a life in accordance to studying Torah and observing mitzvots to be in constant reminder to do chesed and treat people respectfully. When we astray, unfortunately, retribution from Hashem will be waiting.