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Can we conquer fear and anxiety on our own? Balak, the name of this week’s parashah, was king of the Moabites. God has such a sense of humor. Balak’s name means destroyer as opposed to Tzippor, his father’s name, which means “bird”, but this destroyer was like a little bird. He was terrified of the […]
How can we share someone’s pain without being destroyed by it? Today our parashah is Chukkat, a word from the Hebrew word Chok – חוק meaning statute or regulation. Our sages tell us that we need to accept it by faith since there is no clear understanding of the meaning. They say that even King […]
Is Envy destroying your life? “Let me not be included in your council, let my being not be counted in his assembly.” (Bereshit 49:6) This verse refers to the words that Yaakov prophesied on his deathbed, which according to the sages of Israel in Bamidbar Rabbah 18 refers to the advice of the spies who […]
“I discovered that Wisdom is superior to folly as light is superior to darkness; “The wise man has his eyes in his head, while the fool walks in darkness.” Koheleth 2:13-14 This week’s parashah, Shelach Lecha שְׁלַח-לְך (Send for you), expounds upon the twelve explorers of the land, their report, and its consequences, resulting in […]
Imagine… Parashat Behalotecha begins with the instructions that the light of the menorah was to be structured in such a way as to shine toward the people. The Torah teaches us that GOD uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary tasks and that they are judged by their hearts and given specific roles. We read that […]
Are you here to serve or to be served? The word Naso means to be lifted up or to be counted. I’d like to continue the idea from my last week’s message: “Are we being counted?” The last count was where God was organizing and counting the Levites. He had already counted the twelve tribes […]
GOD is Counting on you “In reality, GOD placed each member of the body as he saw fit.” (Rav Shaul, 1 Corinthians 12:18) In the writings of Rav Shaul an important teaching is implied: GOD knows which cells to place in the human body to fulfill its function, so when a cell behaves poorly, disease […]
You can’t dance at two weddings! I watched a short video this week where an Israeli woman was warning Norway, one of the many countries that are presently recognizing the Palestinian state and condemning Israel. She was holding two books in her hands; one was entitled the History of the Palestinians with Arabic words on […]
What is holding us back from being the best that we can be? This parashah Behar is the second to last in the book of Leviticus, Vayikra. So many things have been done to this book by the religious with their banquet of theological ideas. I prefer to develop it as an application for our […]
This week’s portion Emor, which means “to speak,” contains the following topics: First, the regulations governing the life and offerings of the cohanim; second, the Moedim, God’s Appointed Times in the Jewish calendar – Shabbat, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot; third, the ordinance regarding olive oil for lighting the menorah and the […]
