Torah Parallels

Thoughts on the Parsha Parshas Chukas The Power of a Zechus By: Daniel Listhaus “ ...And Miriam died there....And there was no water for the assembly.” -Chukas 20:1-2 Rashi 1 comments that from the juxtaposition of these passukim (verses) we see that for the entire forty years in the desert prior to this point, the well that the Jews had access to, which followed them on their journey, was only deserved through Miriam's zechus (merit). This is why when she died, the well disappeared and hid among the other rocks. What was Miriam's zechus which had the capacity of providing drinks to an entire population and their animals in the hot desert for forty years? Before Moshe Rabbeinu was born, Pharaoh made a decree that all baby boys be killed. Rashi 2 writes that in response to this law, Amram, the father of Moshe, divorced his wife, Yocheved. Once he divorced his wife, the rest of the Jews then divorced their wives as well. After all, Amram was the leading Gadol Hador (esteemed...

THoughts on Parsha Parshas Korach To Kill a Mockingbird: Dutch Tulips and Mad Crowd Disease By: Daniel Listhaus וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח בֶּן יִצְהָר בֶּן קְהָת בֶּן לֵוִי וְדָתָן וַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב וְאוֹן בֶּן פֶּלֶת בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן “ And Korach the son of Yitzhar son of Kehas son of Levi took...” -Korach 16:1 Rashi 1 and the Medrash 2 describe that Korach came to Moshe with the following two questions. The first was, “Does a tallis made entirely of techeiles (blue-dyed wool) require a string of techeiles ”? The logic behind this question is that we know that we are required to put tzitzis strings on each corner of every four-cornered garment that we wear. 3 The real mitzva of tzitzis includes that one of the strings on each corner be techeiles 4 . So, essentially, Korach was asking that if, for a regular tallis, a single string of techeiles is enough to fulfill the requirement, then certainly if the whole garment is made of techeiles , it should require no such thing. The second que...

  פרשת שלח Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About Rashi (13:2) writes that the story of the Meraglim was placed in the Torah immedietly following the  episode of Miriam because they did not learn from Miriam about how one should speak. Miriam  spoke lashon harah about her brother, Moshe Rabbeinu, while the Meraglim spoke about Eretz  Yisroel – an inanimate object, not a person. There is nothing wrong with doing so. So what did the  Meraglim do wrong that they should have learned from the story of Miriam? Calev and Yehoshua each had the help of a tefillah to stay away from the plot of the meraglim. Why was this necessary? Why not just stay away? After the report of the Meraglim, the B'nei Yisroel cried out, “Why is Hashem bringing us to this land  to fall by the sword? Our wives and young will be taken captive! Is it not better that we return to  Egypt?” What were the B'nei Yisroel thinking? How exactly were they thinking they would...

Thoughts on the parsha Parshas Shelach Who Are You Going to Believe, Me or Your Own Eyes? By: Daniel Listhaus “ ...We were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes!” -Shelach 13:33 This week's parsha opens with Hashem's response to the B'nei Yisroel's request to send spies to scout Eretz Yisroel . Hashem said to Moshe, “...send forth for yourself men...” 1 As Rashi 2 comments, Hashem was not pleased with the idea of sending the meraglim (spies). After all, He promised us that Eretz Yisroel was good. What more of a guarantee could we possibly ask for? What better evidence could we possibly discover? Yet, Hashem allowed us to send in spies despite our inexcusable uncertainty and persistence. Rashi 3 writes that just as the meraglim came back and spoke badly about Eretz Yisroel , that was really their intention from the beginning. The problem with this Rashi is that earlier in the parsha , when listing the names of the meraglim , the passuk 4 testifi...