Torah Parallels

פרשת נצבים & ראש השנה Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About... At the end of parshas Nitzavim , Hashem tells us: הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ , הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה ; וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים -- לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה , אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ - “I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse; and you shall choose life....” A few questions should immediately come to mind: a. Chazal teach us that a “ nesinah” (a “giving”) is shaveh perutah (value of a perutah coin). In order for there to be two equal things that Hashem is giving before us, it must therefore be that they are both “valuable” (at least in our eyes). Last time I checked, though, Death's & Cursing's popularity was quite down. How could we understand that it is a “ nesinah” ? b. Also, if this is our big choice of bechirah , isn't it a bit unfair to word the choice as a choice between life and blessing versus death and curse? It seems pretty obvious which one to choose. Sho...

Parshas Nitzavim-Vayeilech and Rosh Hashanah Ignorance is Not Bliss By: Daniel Listhaus וְהָיָה בְּשָׁמְעוֹ אֶת דִּבְרֵי הָאָלָה הַזֹּאת וְהִתְבָּרֵךְ בִּלְבָבוֹ לֵאמֹר שָׁלוֹם יִהְיֶה לִּי כִּי בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבִּי אֵלֵךְ לְמַעַן סְפוֹת הָרָוָה אֶת הַצְּמֵאָה “ And it will be that when he hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself in his heart, saying, 'I will have peace, though I go as my heart sees fit' – thereby adding the drunk with the thirsty.” - Nitzavim 29:18 The Torah tells us that despite us being at Har Sinai to accept the Torah, and despite us accepting upon ourselves the covenant with Hashem along with the berachos (blessings) and k'lalos (curses) on Har Grizim and Har Eivel , still there perhaps will be someone who thinks to himself that it is all one big bluff. The S'forno 1 elaborates that while receiving the Torah and accepting the berachos and k'lalos , this person was being a bobble head, just nodding in agreement with a smile to everyth...

פרשת כי תבא Parsha Stumpers and Something to Think About Why is it that upon the time of bringing bikkurim is the proper time to say the whole tefillah of history starting from Lavan and Yaakov? What is the connection to bikkurim ? And why must it be said to the kohen as opposed to one saying it to himself in the field? The Mishna in Bikkurim (1:4) states that a ger (convert) brings bikkurim but cannot be korei (read) the paragraph which is recited because he is not able to say “l'a'voseinu” since his ancestors were not Jewish. If so, why is it that a ger could say “elokeinu v'elokei avoseinu” in shemoneh esreh ? There is a passuk in this week's parsha with a remez to the five seforim of the Torah. Which passuk is it? What are the remazim ? And how do they hint to their respective sefer they are hinting to? In the passuk of “ baruch ata b'vo'echa... ” Rashi explains that just as one enters the world pure and without sins,...

Parshas Ki Savo The Three Lively Hallows: Reign in the Rain Versus Formation Skydiving By: Daniel Listhaus יִפְתַּח הֹ ' לְךָ אֶת אוֹצָרוֹ הַטּוֹב אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם לָתֵת מְטַר אַרְצְךָ בְּעִתּוֹ וּלְבָרֵךְ אֵת כָּל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶךָ וְהִלְוִיתָ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְאַתָּה לֹא תִלְוֶה “ Hashem shall open for you His storehouse of goodness, the heavens, to provide rain for your land in its time, and to bless all your handiwork; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” - Ki Savo 28:12 Immediately after the Torah lists the curses of those who violate various mitzvos , the Torah writes about the goodness that comes when we in fact listen to the word of Hashem and follow His commandments. 1 The passuk describes that one of the rewards we receive from listening to Hashem is that Hashem will open His storehouse and allow it to rain. The Torah here is clearly communicating the connection between the world of ruchniyus (spirituality) and gashmiyus (material). The fact that there...

Parshas Re'eh Baseless Beliefs By: Daniel Listhaus אֵת כָּל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם אֹתוֹ תִשְׁמְרוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת לֹא תֹסֵף עָלָיו וְלֹא תִגְרַע מִמֶּנּוּ “ The entire matter that I command you, you shall guard it to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it.” - Re'eh 13:1 Rashi 1 explains that when the Torah here commands us not to add to the mitzvos , it means that we are prohibited from adding to the mitzvos themselves, such as bringing a fifth species on Succos with the lulav or adding in a fourth beracha (blessing) to birkas kohanim (the blessing that the kohanim give which is divided into three parts). Presumably we could assume that Rashi would similarly explain that when the passuk (verse) says not to subtract from the mitzvos it means not to, for example, bring three species on Succos or recite only two berachos of birkas kohanim. The question we must ask, though, is what compelled Rashi to explain the passuk in this way? Certai...