Torah Parallels

פרשת שלח Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About Rashi (13:2) writes that the story of the Meraglim was placed in the Torah immediately 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 be treated if they went back...

Thoughts on the parsha Parshas Shelach What's the Real Story? By: Daniel Listhaus וַיֹּצִיאוּ דִּבַּת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תָּרוּ אֹתָהּ אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר עָבַרְנוּ בָהּ לָתוּר אֹתָהּ אֶרֶץ אֹכֶלֶת יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ הִוא וְכָל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ בְתוֹכָהּ אַנְשֵׁי מִדּוֹת “ They brought forth to the B'nei Yisroel an evil report on the land that they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have passed, to spy it out, is a land which devours its inhabitants! All the people that we saw in it were men of measures!'” -Shelach 13:32 Rashi 1 tells us that the B'nei Yisroel approached Moshe and said that they wanted to send spies out before them to check out Eretz Yisroel . Hashem was obviously not happy with this request because if He said that He would bring us to a great land, what further need is there to check it out? Nontheless, Hashem did not stop Moshe from sending the meraglim (spies). 2 The Torah describes that Eretz Yisroel was a land...

Thoughts on The Parsha Parshas Nasso Capitalized Coincidences By: Daniel Listhaus וַיְדַבֵּר ה ' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר : דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אִישׁ אוֹ אִשָּׁה כִּי יַפְלִא לִנְדֹּר נֶדֶר נָזִיר לְהַזִּיר לַה ' : מִיַּיִן וְשֵׁכָר יַזִּיר חֹמֶץ יַיִן וְחֹמֶץ שֵׁכָר לֹא יִשְׁתֶּה וְכָל מִשְׁרַת עֲנָבִים לֹא יִשְׁתֶּה וַעֲנָבִים לַחִים וִיבֵשִׁים לֹא יֹאכֵל “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, “Speak to the B'nei Yisroel and say to them: A man or a woman who shall set apart by taking a nazarite vow to set apart to Hashem; from wine and hard drink shall he abstain, and he shall not drink vinegar or wine or vinegar of hard drink; anything in which grapes have been steeped he shall not drink, and fresh and dried grapes he shall not eat.” - Nasso 6:1-3 After describing the degrading process that the sotah must go through, the Torah begins to teach the seemingly unrelated topic of one who accepts upon oneself to be a nazir , and proceeds to relate the relevant...

פרשת במדבר Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About Rashi (1:2) writes that the way Moshe counted B'nei Yisroel was through collecting a half-shekel per person. Why did he have count them like this? The passuk tells us that the people had to establish their genealogy according to their families. Rashi explains that they each brought documents of lineage and witnesses of their birth in order to precisely trace each one's ancestry. Why was this necessary? Why not just believe them in the first place? What is the significance of a flag? Rashi (3:1) notes that the passuk refers to Elazar and Isamar as the children of Aharon and Moshe – Aharon because he was their biological father, and Moshe because he was their rebbe. However, in the following passuk (3:2) it repeats and only calls them the sons of Aharon. Why should being someone's rebbe make one considered his father? Why is the passuk switching in the next passuk to just call them the sons of Ah...

Thoughts on The Parsha Parshas Bamidbar Mind Over Matter By: Daniel Listhaus זֹאת עֲבֹדַת בְּנֵי קְהָת בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים “This is the work of the sons of Kehas in the Tent of Meeting: the most Holy.” אַל תַּכְרִיתוּ אֶת שֵׁבֶט מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַקְּהָתִי מִתּוֹךְ הַלְוִיִּם “ Do not cut off the tribe of the Kehas families from among the Levi'im.” - Bamidbar 4:4;18 After having counted B'nei Yisroel and describing the positioning of the the B'nei Yisroel around the aron (ark) in the midbar (desert), the Torah continues to relate the tasks of the Levi'im . As the cloud and fire representing the shechina of Hashem traveled, the B'nei Yisroel followed. There was no itinerary that they knew of which outlined how their time in the midbar would be spent. The B'nei Yisroel never knew if they would be pitching tent for the night, week, or month. If this itself did not display a true devotion to Hashem, then certainly the fact that every time they moved, the...

Thoughts on The Parsha Parshas Bechukosai Customized Consequences By: Daniel Listhaus אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי בחוקותי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְו‍ֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם : וְנָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם וְנָתְנָה הָאָרֶץ יְבוּלָהּ וְעֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה יִתֵּן פִּרְיוֹ וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי בְּתוֹכְכֶם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים וְאַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ לִי לְעָם “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 After the Torah describes the great rewards which come to those who perform the mitzvos , Hashem tells us, “I will walk among you and will be a G-d to you and you will be a people unto Me.” Rashi 1 explains that this passuk (verse) is in allusion to the reward of Olam Habbah . Hashem is promising here that He will stroll in Gan Eden with those who keep the mitzvos. The obvious question on the passu...