Torah Parallels

Parshas Vayikra The Art of Listening By: Daniel Listhaus “ He [Hashem] called to Moshe and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying: Speak to the B'nei Yisroel and say to them: When a person from among you will bring an offering to Hashem: from the animals – from the cattle and from the flocks you shall bring your offering.” -Vayikra 1:1-2 Rashi 1 on this passuk describes that throughout the Torah there are many breaks 2 . The purpose of these breaks was to give Moshe time to digest and understand what he had been taught by Hashem. Rashi then ends by saying a kal v'chomer: If Moshe, who learned from Hashem, needed breaks for contemplation, then certainly ordinary people such as ourselves who learn from ordinary people must stop to take breaks in order to properly understand what the other is teaching. The Sifsei Chachomim 3 explains that the kal v'chomer that Rashi is saying is quite clear: If Moshe, an incredible student, was learning from Hashem, certai...

Parshas Vayakhel-Pikudei Take the First Step By: Daniel Listhaus “ ...Hashem has proclaimed by name, Betzalel son of Uri son of Chur, from the tribe of Yehuda. He filled him with G-dly spirit, with wisdom, and with understanding...He filled them with wisdom of the heart to do every work of the craftsman, artist, embroiderer, and the weaver - those who perform every labor and those who make artistic designs.” -Vayakhel 35:30-35 The passukim (verses) describe the involvement of Betzalel and the chachomim in the building of the Mishkan and its keilim (vessels). Betzalel actually received a few personal shout-outs among the passukim because, as Rashi 1 explains, Betzalel was even more devoted to the building of the Mishkan than the others. Why was Betzalel one of the few individuals who were so heavily involved in the building of the Mishkan? Rashi 2 , based on a Gemara 3 , relates an incident through which Moshe was certain that Betzalel had achieved a level of Ruach HaK...

Parshas Tetzaveh Measure for Measure By: Daniel Listhaus “ You shall make garments of sanctity for Aharon your brother, for glory and for splendor. And you shall speak to each of the wise-hearted people whom I have invested with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the garments of Aharon, to sanctify him, so that he shall be a Kohen to Me.... And the cheishev with which he is beautified.... ” - Tetzaveh 28 :2-3; 8 There is no doubt that the bigdei kehunah (special clothes that the kohanim had to wear) were spectacular and royal. When it comes to discussing the cheishev , Rashi 1 writes that the Kohen Gadol's cheishev was the belt above the eiphod (apron) which beautified and enhanced the Kohen , and adorned him. There are two issues which seem to pop out from this Rashi . First, even though certainly one aspect of the bigdei kehunah was to make the kohen look prestigious, why is it that this aspect is stressed so much in the Torah and this Rashi ? It sounds as if this was...