(link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso May the lord bless you and guard you. May the lord light up his face to you and grant grace to you. May the lord lift up his face to you and give you peace. (Bemidbar 6:24-26)   R. Shimeon b. Halafta said: The Holy One, blessed be He, found no vessel that could contain blessing for Israel save that of peace, as it is written: 'The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace'....

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso FROM the age of THIRTY YEARS and upward; to the age of fifty years you are to count them. ALL who enter to join-forces with the working-force, to serve the serving-tasks in the tent of appointment. (Bemidbar 4:23, E. Fox translation))     All who enter the work-force –The meaning of tsava is a group of people gathered together to fulfill their appointed function. All who join-forces with the working-force mean...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso – Chag Shavuot Rabbi Pinchas in the name of Rabbi Hoshaia said, "While the king sits at his table" (Song of Songs, 1:12), before the King, the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, sits at his table in heaven, He went first, as it is said (Ex. 19:16): "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning." This is like a king who decreed, "On a certain day I will...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso A man or woman who sets himself apart by making a Nazirite vow to abstain for the sake of the Lord. He shall abstain from new wine and old wine… he shall not eat any product of the grape vine, from seeds to skins. (Bamidbar 6:2-4)   Sinner or Holy Man? Shmuel said: Anyone who perseveres in fasting is called a sinner. He agreed with the Tanna who taught: R. Elazar HaKafar said in the name...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso – Chag Shavuot This is the law of jealousies when a woman goes astray to someone other than her husband and is defiled or if a spirit of jealousy comes over a man, and he is jealous of his wife. (Bamidbar 5: 29-30)   This is the law of jealousies : Justified jealousy and unjustified jealousy, which is explained by the phrases, when a woman goes astray to someone other than her husband and...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso – Chag Shavuot IF SOMEONE IN HIS PRESENCE DIES UNEXPECTEDLY OR SUDDENLY, AND CAUSES  THE NAZIRITE HEAD TO BECOME DEFILED, HE SHALL SHAVE OFF HIS HEAD ON THE DAY OF HIS PURIFICATION… AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY, HE SHALL BRING TWO TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS… THE PRIEST SHALL PREPARE ONE FOR A SIN OFFERING AND ONE FOR A BURNT OFFERING AND ATONE ON HIS BEHALF FOR SINNING BY COMING INTO...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso A MAN OR WOMAN WHO SETS HIMSELF APART BY MAKING A NAZIRITE VOW TO ABSTAIN FOR THE SAKE OF THE LORD. HE SHALL ABSTAIN FROM NEW WINE AND AGED WINE… HE SHALL NOT EAT ANY PRODUCT OF THE GRAPE VINE, FROM SEEDS TO SKINS. (Bamidbar 6)   Sinner or Holy Man? Shemuel said: Anyone who perseveres in fasting is called a sinner. He agreed with the Tanna who taught: R. Elazar HaKafar said in...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso – Chag Shavuot SPEAK TO THE ISRAELITES AND SAY TO THEM: "IF ANYONE, MAN OR WOMAN, EXPLICITLY UTTERS A NAZARITE'S VOW TO SET HIMSELF APART FOR THE LORD… THROUGHOUT THE TERM OF HIS VOW AS A NAZARITE, NO RAZOR SHALL TOUCH HIS HEAD; IT SHALL REMAIN CONSECRATED UNTIL THE COMPLETION OF HIS TERM AS A NAZARITE OF THE LORD, THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD BEING LEFT TO GROW UNTRIMMED… THROUGHOUT HIS TERM AS A...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Nasso AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE SACRED WATER IN A CLAY VESSEL AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE SOME OF THE DUST FROM THE FLOOR OF THE TABERNACLE AND PLACE IT IN THE WATER.  (Bamidbar 5:17)   Sacred water – i.e., water that has become holy through being in the laver, because it was made of the mirrors of the women who assembled at the entrance of the appointed tent, and this woman deviated from their...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Nasso THIS WAS THE DEDICATION OFERING FOR THE ALTAR FROM THE CHEIFTAINS OF ISRAEL UPON THE DAY OF ITS BEING ANOINTED: SILVER BOWLS, TWELVE; SILVER BASINS, TWELVE; GOLD LADLES, TWELVE. (Bemidbar 7: 84)   TOTAL OF HERD ANIMALS FOR SACRIFICES OF WELL-BEING, TWENTY-FOUR BULLS; OF RAMS, SIXTY; OF HE-GOATS, SIXTY; OF YEARLING RAMS, SIXTY. THAT WAS THE DEDICATION OFFERING FOR THE ALTAR AFTER ITS ANOINTING.  (Bemidbar 7:88)     Unity is Possible When the Good...