Articles in Parsha Insights
B'Ha'alotcha: Food For Thought For Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Eternal Lights
Aharon had hoped to deliver the inaugural ceremonies of the Mishkan, but when he saw that the tribal leaders were selected over him he was crestfallen. G-d comforted Aharon with the kindling of the Temple Lights. “Yours [the lights] are greater than theirs.”
Tweet
Naso: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Never Too Late
The Levites began to serve in the sanctuary at the age of thirty and their primary task was transporting the sanctuary across the desert. The desert is an arid environment with no water. Water is a symbol for the Torah. On a spiritual plane, the desert represents …
B’midbar: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Exalted Names
In the first census of the Jewish nation each family was identified by name, “By the count of their names.” In the second census the tribes were identified, but the families were not. The first census occurred shortly after the Exodus and the generation that left Egypt was …
Bechukotai: Food For Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: In the Right Time
If we follow His commandments G-d promises to make the rain fall in its time. Rashi explains that the right time for rain is on Shabbat. The Talmud relates that on the road, Rabbi Chanina Ben Dosa would pray for clear weather and upon returning home …
Behar: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Three-Fifty-Four
Why are we obligated to let our fields lie fallow once every seven years? Rabbi Yonasan Eibshitz offered the following explanation. There are fifty-two Shabbats in a year, amounting to 312 Shabbats over the course of six years. Seven annual Biblical holidays, the first and last of Pesach, the …
Emor: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Inherent Sanctity
The Kohen (priest) must be holy for G-d is holy. It is not easy to be holy; holiness requires discipline, devotion, commitment and constant vigilance, which is why there are so few holy people. Yet the entire tribe of Levi was holy. The Levite’s holiness was not the …
Kedoshim: Food For thought For Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Shared Ownership
Addressing the entire Jewish nation, the Torah states, “When you reap the harvest from your fields (plural) do not fully reap the corner of your field (singular). . . leave it to the poor.” The first stitch of the verse is written in the plural whereas the second …
Acharei: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Repentance
The Holy of Holies was closed to human traffic throughout the year, even on Shabbat and holidays, Yom Kippur was the only exception. Yom Kippur is unique because it is a day of repentance. Our sages taught that the penitent’s deep remorse and yearning for G-d catapult him to …
