Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Achary Mot – Kedoshim LOVE OF ONE'S FELLOW AND LOVE OF THE ALIEN AS THE BASIS FOR A MORAL SOCIETY If one violates a minor mitzva, eventually he will violate a major one; if he transgresses "Love your fellow as yourself" eventually he will transgress "Do not hate" and "Do not take revenge or retain anger", and in time he will disobey "So that your brother may live beside you", until he will finally commit murder – therefore it is written: "If it should be...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Tazria-Metzora WHEN YOU ENTER THE LAND OF CANAAN THAT I GIVE YOU AS A POSSESSION, AND I INFLICT AN AFFLICTION OF TSARAAT UPON A HOUSE IN THE LAND YOU POSSESS, THE OWNER OF THE HOUSE SHALL COME AND TELL THE PRIEST, SAYING: "SOMETHING LIKE AN AFFLICTION HAS APPEARED UPON MY HOUSE." (Vayikra 14:33-34) AFFLICTIONS ON THE HOUSE – A RESULT OF POSSESIVENESS AND USE OF FORCE What I consider to be the most correct understanding of this is that the main cause [of afflictions...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat W Saad 2 4 2002-03-21T09:32:00Z 2002-04-02T11:48:00Z 2002-04-02T11:48:00Z 6 2951 16822 TIRATZVI 9.2720 (link to original page) Parashat Shmini I OPENED THE DOOR FOR MY BELOVED, BUT MY BELOVED HAD TURNED AND GONE; I WAS FAINT BECAUSE OF WHAT HE SAID. I SOUGHT, BUT FOUND HIM NOT; I CALLED, BUT HE DID NOT ANSWER. (Shir Hashirim 5:6) On Love Which Distorts …Already, in Moshe's time, there were parties in Israel eager for the love of God, but did not observe the limitations imposed by the Torah; as we shall explain in...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Pesach I ADJURE YOU, O MAIDENS OF JERUSALEM, BY GAZELLES OR BY HINDS OF THE FIELD: DO NOT WAKE OR ROUSE LOVE UNTIL IT PLEASE! (Song of Songs 2:7) The Pledge of Love, the Redemption from Egypt, and the Future Redemption "I adjure you, O maidens of Yerushalayim" – What shall you tell him? That I am faint with love. Just as this sufferer awaits healing, so the generation in Egypt awaits redemption. (Shir HaShirim Rabba 5) "I adjure you, O maidens of Yerushalayim… love"...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Tsav THE FIRE ON THE ALTAR SHALL BE KEPT BURNING, NOT TO GO OUT; EVERY MORNING THE PRIEST SHALL FEED WOOD TO IT, LAY OUT THE BURNT OFFERING ON IT, AND TURN INTO SMOKE THE FAT PARTS OF THE OFFERINGS OF WELL-BEING. A PERPETUAL FIRE SHALL BE KEPT BURNING ON THE ALTAR, NOT TO GO OUT. (Vayikra 6:5-6) THE SPIRITUAL FIRE, THE FIRE WHICH CONSUMES, AND THE FIRE WHICH LIVES IN PEACE WITH WATER Had you been deserving you would be reading in...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Vayikra AND IF HIS MEANS DO NOT SUFFICE FOR TWO TURTLEDOVES OR TWO PIGEONS, HE SHALL BRING AS HIS OFFERING FOR THAT OF WHICH HE IS GUILTY A TENTH OF AN EPHA OF CHOICE FLOUR FOR A SIN OFFERING; HE SHALL NOT ADD OIL TO IT OR LAY FRANKINCENSE ON IT FOR IT IS A SIN OFFERING. Said Rabbi Yehuda: Beloved is a mitzvah performed at its proper time, for he immediately brings a tenth of a epha, and we do not wait until he...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Vayakhel-Pekuday MOSHE THEN CONVOKED THE WHOLE ISRAELITE COMMUNITY AND SAID TO THEM: (Shemot 35:1) Right, Justice, and Peace Are Essential for the Dwelling of the Shekhina "Moshe then convoked the whole Israelite community" – Rashi explains: On the morrow of the Day of Atonement. And in Parashat Yitro it is written: "And on the morrow, Moshe sat to judge the people" and there Rashi explained that it was on the morrow of the Day of Atonement. It seems to me that it was known that...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Ki Tissa AND GOD WOULD SPEAK TO MOSHE FACE TO FACE, AS A MAN SPEAKS TO HIS NEIGHBOR. NOW WHEN HE WOULD RETURN TO THE CAMP, HIS ATTENDANT, THE LAD YEHOSHUA, WOULD NOT DEPART FROM WITHIN. (Shemot 33:11) "FACE TO FACE" "Face to face" meaning: Present, without intermediary, as is written, "Let us confront each other", and this is elsewhere explained, saying, "You heard the sound of words but perceived no shape – nothing but a voice." Thus, "and God would speak to Moshe face...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Tetzave MAN, TORAH, AND NESHAMA Torah and Man are connected by God's lamp on earth; the Torah is a flame which leaps from the spark of He who sits in heaven; Man, with both his components (body and soul) is a torch which draws its light; his back – a twisted wick, and his soul – pure olive oil. When they are in accord and are together, the entire house is filled with light. (Malbim, Commentary on Shemot 21:20) "FOR KINDLING LAMPS REGULARLY" This...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Truma LET THEM MAKE ME A SANCTUARY THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG THEM. EXACTLY AS I SHOW YOU – THE PATTERN OF THE TABERNACLE AND THE PATTERN OF ALL ITS FURNISHINGS – SO SHALL YOU MAKE IT. The Renewal of Sanctity Requires a King, A Prophet, and a Great Sanhedrin The tribe, the false prophet and the High Priest, are judged only by a Bet Din of seventy-one. An optional war is to be declared only by Bet Din of seventy-one. The City and...