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PARSHAS CHUKAS
"GRATITUDE"         In contrast to Aaron, whom the Torah testifies was mourned by the entire nation, on Miriam’s passing, which took place earlier; there is no mention of mourning. Rather, it states “there was no water for the congregation” (24)         Sometimes silence speaks louder than words, and the silence that should give us pause is the absence of mourning and weeping. G-d denied the nation water so that they might be ever cognizant that the fresh sweet water of the well in the desert...
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Parshas Korach
         Korach, a cousin of Moses from the distinguished Tribe of the Levites, falls prey to the three sins which our sages teach are the source of all destructive character traits: jealousy and the thirst for honor. (The third character trait is lust.) In his obsession, Korach foments rebellion and tries to unseat Moses and Aaron....
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Parshas Beha`Aloscha: HOW WILL YOU BE REMEMBERED?
Aaron himself was commanded to kindle the light, telling us that the most effective way to impress upon our children the importance of Torah study and the observance of mitzvos is by being an example, a proper role model. It is not what we preach, but what we do that counts, for that is how our children will remember us. If they see our commitment, then they will follow suit and walk in our footsteps.It was through his dedication and love of the mitzvah of the Menorah that Aaron merited that...
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PARSHAS BAMIDBAR: ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR TORAH LEARNING
Parshas Bamidbar is always read prior to the great festival of Shavuos which commemorates the day that G-d gave us the Torah. And that in itself is instructive. Midbar can be defined as wilderness or desert; the word bamidbar means “in the Wilderness”, teaching us that if we wish the Torah to impact on us and elevate us, we have to make ourselves like a desert. Even as a desert is barren, so too must we divest ourselves of all pre-conceived notions and allow the Torah to re-shape us. Even as in...
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Thought for the Week
“Delve in the Torah for everything is in it, look deeply in it grow old and gray over it and do not stir from it for you can have no better portion than it.”“Ethics of the Fathers”: Chapter 5, Mishnah 6
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PARSHAS BEHAR-BECHUKOSAI: TAKE CARE NOT TO INFLICT PAIN
Our parsha coincides with preparations for the holiday of Shavuos when G-d gave us His Torah. Therefore, most appropriately, this parsha imparts mitzvos that teach us how we may best prepare ourselves for this awesome day. Not only are we called upon to intensify our faith and place our trust in the Almighty G-d, but we are also reminded how to be more sensitive toward our fellow man: “Each of you shall not aggrieve your fellow man,”(22) meaning that we must be very careful with our words and...
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PARSHAS EMOR: IMPARTING A LIFE LESSON TO THE YOUNG
Our sages teach us that this double language of “say” has yet another meaning, and that is that the adults must instruct the young. What is puzzling; however is that this command is given to the Kohanim specifically when the Torah is discussing contact with the dead.Once again, there is a special lesson to be derived from this. When we are overcome by grief at a death, it becomes easy to abandon our responsibility to teach the young; it becomes easy to fall into a depression and forget that...
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PARSHAS ACHREI MOS-KEDOSHIM: TRUST - THE BASIS OF ALL RELATIONSHIPS
One of the mitzvoth mentioned in this parsha is "You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind"(Leviticus, 19:14). This statement is not meant to be taken only literally; it also means that we must be careful not to give misleading advice. We also have to insure that we do not have hidden agendas and that our motivations for giving advice are pure. The question that must arise, is, why the Torah not simply state that we are not permitted to mislead others. Why use this figure of speech...
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