Torah Parallels

Thoughts on The Parsha Parshas Bamidbar All for One and One for All By: Daniel Listhaus אִישׁ עַל דִּגְלוֹ בְאֹתֹת לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם יַחֲנוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִנֶּגֶד סָבִיב לְאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד יַחֲנוּ “ The Children of Israel shall encamp, each man at his own division (by his flag) according to the signs of their fathers' house...” -Bamidbar 2:2 The Medrash 1 states that when Hashem came to Har Sinai to give the Torah to the B'nei Yisroel , twenty-two thousand chariots of malachim ( angels) came down with Him - each with their own flag. When the Jews saw this they also had the desire to have their own flags. Hashem agreed that each shevet (tribe) should in fact each make for itself a flag. What does this mean? What did the Jews see in the flags of the malachim which caused them to want to have their own? Also, what is the significance of each shevet having its own flag? In order to answer these questions, we must first realize what a flag is. Webster translates a flag as, “ any o...

Parshas Bechukosai   Recognizing Real Reward By: Daniel Listhaus “If you will go in My decrees and observe My commandments and perform them; then I will provide your rains in their time, and the land will give its produce and the tree of the field will give its fruit….I will walk among you….” - Bechukosai 26:3-4;12 All of the blessings which are described at the beginning of this week’s Parsha are rewarded to us as a whole when we follow in the way of Hashem [1] . As Chizkuni [2] writes, “If you do what I (Hashem) put on you, then the land which was created for you will put forth most productively”. The extent of these blessings is indeed great. As a matter of fact, the Medrash [3]   points out that the brachos cover everything from Alef to Taf , representing the bountiful amount of goodness coming to the one who follows in Hashem’s ways [4] . When reading these opening verses in the Parsha , however, two questions immediately come to mind. First of all, the Mussar books...

Thoughts on The Parsha Parshas Behar A Test of Trust By: Daniel Listhaus שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים תִּזְרַע שָׂדֶךָ וְשֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים תִּזְמֹר כַּרְמֶךָ וְאָסַפְתָּ אֶת תְּבוּאָתָהּ : וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן יִהְיֶה לָאָרֶץ שַׁבָּת לַיהֹוָה שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרָע וְכַרְמְךָ לֹא תִזְמֹר “ For six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyard, and you may gather in its crop. But on the seventh year there shall be a complete rest for the land, a Shabbos for Hashem; your field you shall not plow and your vineyard you shall not prune.” - Behar 25:3-4             The laws of shemittah are many and are hard to keep. However, as hard as it is to keep the laws of shemittah , it is exponentially harder to comprehend them. If one would tell a farmer that every seventh year he must leave his land fallow and not only refrain from working it, but that he is also prohibited to derive benefit from selling its pro...