Torah Parallels

Parshas Terumah Mishkan Man By: Daniel Listhaus “ They shall make for Me a Sanctuary – so that I may dwell among them – in conformance with all that I show you, the form of the Mishkan and the form of all its vessels; and so shall you do . ” - Terumah 25:8-9 After receiving the Torah and understanding its mitzvos , Hashem commanded us to build a Mikdash . Parshas Terumah describes the many keilim (vessels) which had to be made, the specifications and details as to how they should be made, and with which materials. The Torah clearly depicts the precise measurements and descriptions of the Aron , Shulchan , Menorah , Copper Mizbeach , Paroches , and all of their respective accessories. Even the Mishkan and the Courtyard itself had their own specific requirements. The question that begs to be asked on the whole Parsha is, what was the purpose of the Mishkan ? Even if we could somehow grasp a small understanding that perhaps the Mishkan was there to allow us to offer karbanos and do ...

Parshas Mishpatim Pear Pressure By: Daniel Listhaus “ You shall not go after the many to do bad; and you shall not respond to a dispute to tilt after the many.” - Mishpatim 23:2 This passuk in our parsha is alluding to a number of laws relevant to how the sanhedrin/beis din (Jewish court) must conduct itself. There are many different views as to how to learn this passuk . Rashi 1 explains that when the passuk says, “Do not respond to a dispute...”, the word for 'dispute' ( ריב ) is written without the letter yud (as רב ) to teach us that a judge cannot argue with someone greater ( רב ) than him in the court. For this reason, the sanhedrin would start voicing their opinions “from the side” - meaning starting from the lesser members of the court. The Ohr HaChaim 2 , however, does not like Rashi's explanation because it is not the simple reading of the passuk . Instead, the Ohr HaChaim takes a completely different approach in how to interpret this passuk . He explain...

Parshas Yisro Sunken Chunk By: Daniel Listhaus “ You have seen what I did to Egypt, and that I carried you on the wings of eagles and brought you to Me. And now, if you listen well to Me and you will keep My covenant, you will be a treasure to Me from among the all the nations, for the earth is Mine.” - Yisro 19:4-5 As the B'nei Yisroel are getting ready to accept the Torah, Hashem commands Moshe to give this introduction – that if we decide now to listen to the mitzvos of Hashem, then we will become a treasure to Hashem. Rashi 1 on this passuk explains based on the Mechilta 2 that Hashem was telling us the following, “If you accept the Torah upon yourselves now, then it will be pleasant to you from now on, for all beginnings are difficult.” The Sifsei Chochomim 3 comments on this that Rashi stresses the word “if” because it is a conditional statement: If you accept the Torah now, then it will be pleasant in the future. If we read this Rashi carefully, we will realize that ...