Parshat Devarim: 'History Repeats Itself'

      In this weeks parsha, we learn that its never too late to start a new life, to allow ourselves to change. This is so, because no matter how much the Jewish nation complained or sinned against G-d, Hashem still forgave us and gave us many other chances to reconnect with Him. Unfortunately, what we are going through for the past thousands of years is feeling hatred from other nations simply because we are Jewish. However, we all need to understand that history repeats itself we will always be hated until Hashem will bring the final geula, redemption and the entire world will know the truth about Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We need not forget that it is only human like to make mistakes and therefore Hashem gave us the process of repentance, Teshuva. The three steps of repentance are verbally admitting the sin, feeling guilty about the sin and to try not doing it again. That is why it is never to late to start a new life and we must learn from our history how we can fix our present situation.
Shabbat Shalom! 

Parshat Pinchas

פנחס

Numbers: (25:10-30:1)

In the conclusion of last weeks Parsha, the Torah described how Zimri the son of Salu from the tribe of Shimon, and a Midiante woman, Cozbi the daughter of Zur (an elite member of the Midianite nation) came together inappropriately before Moses and the entire congregation. Pinchas rose up from the congregation and killed both Zimri and Cozbi, thus halting the plague that had killed 24,000 people of the Children of Israel.

This weeks Parsha, named for Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron, opens with G-ds approval of Pinchass actions, who has turned My wrath away from the Children of Israel, in that he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I didnt consume the Children of Israel in my jealousy (25:11).

G-d gives Pinchas a covenant of peace and of an everlasting priesthood. G-d also orders Moses to distress the Midianites and to destroy them because they distressed you with their wiles, with which they tricked you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague caused by the incident at Peor (25:18).

G-d then orders Moses and Elazar, the son of Aaron, to conduct another census of the nation, counting each male of twenty years of age and older, that are able to go forth to war in Israel. Among the list of names recorded, the Torah mentions Zelophehad the son of Hepher, a descendent from the tribe of Menassah, who had no sons but five daughters whose names are given: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.

In the midst of the list of names, we read of the laws of inheritance in Israel. G-d speaks to Moses at the beginning of chapter 26 and tells him that the land will be apportioned through a lottery system according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit (26:55), though the large tribes are to be given a larger portion than the smaller tribes.

The daughters of Zelophehad then come to Moses and Elazar and tell them that their father died in the desert, for his own sins, but that he had left no sons to inherit his land.

They ask, Why should our fathers name be eliminated from his family because he had no son? Give us a portion along with our fathers brother (27:4).

Moses brings their cause before G-d and G-d recognizes their right to their fathers land, saying What Zelophehads daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their fathers relatives and turn their fathers inheritance over to them (27:7).

G-d then pronounces the law that states that if a man passes away and has no son, his property must be handed over to his daughter. If he has no daughter, the inheritance is then transferred to the mans brothers and if he has no brothers, to his fathers brothers. If the father has no brothers, the inheritance is to be handed over to the nearest relative in his clan.

G-d pronounces, This is to be a legal statute for the Children of Israel, as G-d commanded Moses (27:11).

G-d then orders Moses to stand on the summit of Mount Abarim, from which Moses would be able to see the land of Israel but not enter it. G-d tells him that You shall see it, and then he will be gathered onto his people (27:12).

The Ohr HaChaim comments that this seeing was a spiritual vision of the land, rather than just a physical one.

G-d states that this is Because you disobeyed My command in the desert of Zin when the congregation quarreled, to sanctify Me through the water before their eyes; these were the waters of strife at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin (27:14).

G-d appoints Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom there is spirit as Mosess successor (27:18). Moses lays his hands on Joshua and commands him in the presence of Elazar and the entire congregation, according to G-ds command.

The Parsha concludes with the specific details of various sacrificial offerings, including those to be brought daily, on the Sabbath, Rosh Chodesh (the New Moon), Passover, Shavuout, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret.

17th of Tammuz

Today the 17th of Tammuz sitting and learning Torah for the Beit hamikdash to be rebuilt all I hear in the media is tragedy after tragedy while on my end I hear the beautiful birds chirping singing to Hashem to put an end to this. It all started on June 12, 2014 it was the beginning of our unity when three precious boys were abducted and killed right away by HAMAS. Every single Jew in the world whether or not he was frum, Ashkenazi or Sephardi we all united in prayer to bring back our boys... 18 days later we find their bodies under rocks dead... Gilad ShaR, Eyal YifraH and Yaakov Naftali FrenkeL. The boys last letter of there last names spell RACHEL. Rachel our mother has the power to ask for Hashem to save her children because she kept quiet when her father gave her sister Leah to marry yaakov. She sacrificed her happiness for someone else to be happy and not to look like a fool. Do any of us have an ounce of that sensitivity in us? Every sin that each of us does without knowing or with full intention we are giving energy to our enemies to harm us every bad word ..wrong doing we create a bad angel who has the ability to harm any Jew in the world it's scary how we are the cause of such tragedies without intending to harm anyone. Hashem sacrificed His home for us to still exist. What will you sacrifice in order to bring the redemption closer?

Parshat Masei- "Where Are We?"

      Parshat Masei always coincides with the three weeks of the Jewish people mourning for the destruction of the holy temples. The Torah never speaks of sorrow without imparting hope and consolation. So in this weeks parsha it imbues us with faith and strength that even though such tragedies happened in the month of Av also known as "Menachem Av" which means "a comforting father". The parsha is coming to teach each and every one of us that nothing just happens like that. Everything that happens to us in our life is for a reason whether it looks terrible or not we need to believe in Hashem and know that He is there guiding every motion. This parsha is hear to remind us that we are not alone because we have Hashem our Father and our King. How even our forefathers had a long journey before entering the promised land. No matter how difficult their journey was Hashem at the end of the day remembered His promise and brought them back. So too, we should never lose hope because Hashem has His master plan in progress all that is left of us to do is put our seat belts on and take action and responsibilities for our mistakes and know that there is room for repentance. The Torah then goes on to speak about the 42 encampments along life's journey. Forty two is a mystical number, compromising the letters in God's ineffable Name. There is a kabbalistic teaching that as a result of our sins those letters in God's holy Name have become blemished, and so we embark upon our journeys to gather those holy sparks and return them to wholeness, to God's holy Name, which we have blemished through our sins. When our journeys become hard and challenging, we suddenly start to think how can we continue with such a hard test. However, we must remember there is a purpose to our journeys. We need to only follow the ways of Hashem through His infinite Torah and Hashem will guide us to our ultimate destination. May Hashem bless each and every one of you to tap into your neshamot into your holy souls and re navigate your souls and know where you are heading because everyone needs to make sure they are heading in the direction where we will bring ourselves closer to G-d and closer to ourselves.

Parshat Chukat

פרשת חקת

Numbers: (19:1-22:1)

In Parashat Chukat, we encounter an end of an era, the ends of three of the leaders of Israel: Moses, Aharon and Miriam.

The Parsha opens with the laws of פרה אדמה (the Red Heifer), a special and rare kind of animal that is described as a perfect red cow without any blemish and upon which never came a yoke: G-d instructs Moses and Aaron,

דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו אליך פרה אדמה תמימה אשר אין בה מום אשר לא עלה עליה על

Speak to the Children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish, upon which never came a yoke(19:2).

After the red heifer is slaughtered outside the camp before Elazar the priest, the skin of the cow, her flesh, and her blood, is burned. Her ashes are used to purify a person who has been made impure by contact with a dead body. What is interesting about this ritual is that the same way that the ashes of the red heifer can purify the impure it can also make the pure impure, as in the case of he that gathers the ashes. Of whom it written, And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening (19:10).

After forty years of wandering in the desert, the Children of Israel arrive at the wilderness of Zin. Miriam, the older sister of Moses and Aaron, dies in a place called Kadesh.

Rashi comments that Miriams death comes immediately after the portion of the Red Heifer in order to teach us that the same way the sacrifices can bring כפרה (atonement) so too, the deaths of the righteous can bring atonement.

Soon after the death of Miriam, the Children of Israel encounter a lack of water and, once again, they quarrel with Moses, saying:

ולמה הבאתם את קהל ה אל המדברהזה למות שם אנחנו ובעירנו

Why did you bring the congregation of G-d into this desert to die with our livestock? (20:4)

The מפרשים or commentators notice that the name מרים (Miriam) contains the word מים or water. Rashi explains that because of Miriams merit, during the forty years in the desert, the Children of Israel had a well that provided water for them. After Miriams death, however, the well was removed.

To address the lack of water, G-d instructs Moses to speak to the rock that will give forth its water, as it is written:

ודברתם אל הסלע לעיניהם ונתן מימיו והוצאת להם מים מן הסלע והשקית את העדה ואת בעירם

And speak to the rock before their eyes to bring forth its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them and you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle (20:8).

Moses then becomes angry with the Children of Israel and calls them rebels, as it written:

שמעו נא המרים המן הסלע הזה נוציא לכם מים

Listen you rebels! Can we extract water from this rock for you? (20:10)

Instead of speaking to the rock Moses famously strikes the rock, twice, causing water to gush out in full force.

Moses and Aaron are then told that neither of them will enter The Promised Land:

יען אשר לא האמנתם בי להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל

Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me in the children of Israels eyes(20:12)

Aaron dies on Mount Hor and the children of Israel mourn him for thirty days. Moses and the children of Israel conquer the lands of Sichon, king of the Amorites and Og, the king of Bashan, after the two nations denied the Children of Israel to to pass through their land.

וידבר ה אל משה ואהרן לאמר

G-d spoke to Moses and Aaron saying...(19:1)

In this Parsha, we see the power of speech and of words. The Parsha opens with G-d speaking to Moses and Aaron and in the next verse, G-d commands Moses to speak to the Children of Israel. In chapter 20, verse 7, G-d speaks to Moses again:

וידבר ה אל משה

G-d spoke to Moses

In 20:8, G-d tells Moses and Aharon to speak to the rock, as it is written:

ודברתם אל הסלע

In 21:5, the people speak out against G-d and Moses:

וידבר העם באלהים ובמשה

And the people spoke against God, and against Moses.

Moses was punished with a rather harsh punishment for striking the rock instead of speaking to it. His punishment, however, provides an important lesson in leadership. A leader must know when to use his staff (force) and when his staff should remain mute and he should try to communicate and negotiate with words.

Moses seems to have had difficulty with speech since we first met him in the book of Exodus when he tells G-d that he can not be a leader for,

לא איש דברים אנכי גם מתמול גם משלשם כי כבד פה וכבד לשון אנכי

I am not a man of words not since yesterday, not since the day before; for I have a heavy mouth and a heavy tongue(Exodus, 4:10).

Parshat KORACH- "The World Was Created For Me"

פרשת קרח

Numbers: (16:1-18:32)

In this stormy Parsha, Parsha Korah, we see the dark potential of humanity: jealousy and the greedy pursuit of honor. Korah, a cousin of Moses from the tribe of Levi, along with Datan and Abiram and 250 leaders accuses Moses of nepotism:

ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרון ויאמרו אלהם רב לכם כי כל העדה כלם קדשים ובתוכם הומדוע תתנשאו על קהל ה

And they gathered against Moses and Aharon and say, You have taken too much for yourself but you are not the only holy ones for all the congregation are holy, and G-d is among them so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of G-d?(16:3).

Korah declares that the leadership should not be in one persons hands, that everyone in the congregation is equally holy and worthy of leadership. In reaction to Korahs complaints, Moses orders Korah and his congregation to bring incense before G-d:

And it will be that the man that G-d chooses, he is the holy one (16:7).

Moses further defends himself to G-d by saying that he did not even take anything from the congregation, not even a donkey. To prove that Korah and his congregation were wrong, G-d punishes them with an unnatural death. The ground beneath them splits, opens up and swallows Korah, his men, their houses and all their possessions.

The Midrash says that G-d punished themmidah kineged midah, or measure for measure. They opened their mouth against G-d and against Moses so He opened up the mouth of the land to swallow them, as it written:

The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them...(16:32).

G-d sends forth a fire to consume the men who were bringing the incense. He then orders Elazar the priest, son of Aaron, to gather their fire pans and hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar as a sign and reminder for the rest of the Children of Israel.

G-d then tells Moses to speak to the Children of Israel and take a staff from each tribe and to write the name of the tribal leader on the staff of his tribe. The staffs were all to be left in the Tent of Meeting and the man that G-d chooses, his staff will bloom. Moses places the staffs before G-d and returns the next day and behold, the staff of Aaron blossomed for the house of Levi, a blossom came froth, and bloomed buds and bore almonds (17:23).

G-d commands Moses to to place Aarons staff before the Ark of Testimony as a symbol to the rebellious people so that they stop their complaint and so they will not die.

The Parsha also discusses the gifts of the priesthood: terumah, bikkurim (the first fruits) and firstborn among various sacrifices. G-d tells Aaron:

You will have no inheritance in their land...I am your inheritance and portion among the Children of Israel (18:20).

בקר וידע ה את אשר לו

[In the] morning , G-d will make known who is [worthy to be] His... (16:5)

Why did Moses have them wait until the morning? Why was the argument not settled on the spot?

The Or HaChaim explains that G-d gives us time and the opportunity to repent and to teach us that we should not make hasty decisions but rather one should take time to think through ones course of action.

Another explanation is that the result of G-ds choice will be as clear as the morning.

Exerted from "parsha to go app".

Shabbat shalom umevorach 

Parshat Shelach-"Don't Be A Spy"

פרשת שלח

Numbers: (13:1-15:41)

The main story in Parashat Shelach is the story of the מרגלים or spies that Moses sends to tour the land of Canaan. Chazal say that this story is the greatest tragedy that happened to the Children of Israel in the desert, even greater than the sin of the Golden Calf.

The Parsha begins with G-ds commandment to Moses to send the spies, as it is written:

שלח לך אנשים ויתרו את ארץ כנען...

Send for yourself men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan... (13:2).

Rashi explains why this Parsha is presented after the previous episode of Miriams speaking about Moses to Aaron in order to show us that the spies saw that she was punished for speaking badly about her brother and they did not learn from her punishment.

Moses sends twelve spies from the desert of Paran, each the head of a tribe of Israel. Moses gives the men specific instructions. He tells them:

See what the land is and the nation that lives on it; whether they are strong or weak, if they are few or many. And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they open or are they fortified? And how is the land; is it fertile or is it poor, does it have trees, or not? Strengthen yourselves and take some fruit of the land(13: 18-20).

The men return after touring the land for forty days and report to Moses, Aaron and to the entire congregation. They report that although the land indeed flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit...the nation that lives there is mighty and the cities are greatly fortified... (13: 28).

They tell the people that they will not be able to go up against the nation for they are more powerful than we are (13: 31) and that they also saw giants, and we were like grasshoppers in their eyes (13:33). Of the twelve spies, Caleb and Joshua do not participate in the negative report.

When the Children of Israel hear the report of the spies, the people raise their voices and cry that night. (The Midrash says that that night was the 9th of Av, the date of the future destructions of the first and second temples. G-d told the Children of Israel that because they cried for no reason now, G-d will give them a reason to cry in the future.) The people even say to one another let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt (14:4).

Moses asks G-d to forgive the people and G-d says I have forgiven them (14:20). However, G-d says because they tested Him so many times, they will spend forty years in the desert, corresponding to the forty days that the spies spent touring the land of Israel. Except for Caleb and Joshua, the entire generation, from age 20 and up, will die in the desert and will not enter the Promised Land .

The Parsha also discusses the sacrifices that the Children of Israel will bring when they enter the land and mentions the mitzvah of separating a portion of the dough when making bread.

The Parsha ends with the commandment of tzizit, as it is written,

...ועשו להם ציצית על כנפי בגדיהם לדרתם...ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם אשר אתם זנים אחריהם. (טו:לח-לט

...To make for themselves tzizit on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations...and you will not seek after your own hearts and your own eyes, which you go astray (15:38-39).

Rashi notes that the commandment And you will not seek after your own hearts is similar to the wording used from spying the land (13:25). The heart and the eyes are the spies of the body: the eye sees, the heart covets, and the body does the sin.