Torah Parallels

💭 A Thought on the Parsha:   Get Out of the Back Seat                         The Ramban describes that the final sefer of the Torah serves three main purposes. One theme of Sefer Devarim is to repeat many of the mitzvos already commanded earlier in the Torah. For this reason, Sefer Devarim is often referred to as “Mishna Torah”, meaning “repetition of the Torah”. Another function of Sefer Devarim is to introduce some mitzvos which, although taught already on Har Sinai, were not yet written in the actual sefer Torah. Some of these mitzvos include hilchos yibum , motzei shem ra , geirushin , and eidim zomimin . The third facet of Sefer Devarim is to document Moshe's mussar to the B'nei Yisroel .               As in every area of Moshe's life, the final mussar Moshe gave to the B'nei Yisroel was calculated based on da'as Torah and ratzon Hashem. Rashi explains that it was no coincidence that Moshe wait

❓ Questions I am pondering: There are four instances in this week’s parsha where Hashem and Moshe give encouragement and say, “Do not fear”. Why is this expression used for these instances specifically and how are they similar to the instances in Sefer Beraishis where other examples exist? 💡 Idea I am thinking about: Slow. It. Down. People’s ability to focus us truly at risk. A 2005 study showed that in the workplace the average worker focused on as task for only 11 minutes before getting interrupted. To give a sense of where the world was up to in 2005 – the first YouTube video was uploaded. Imagine what that number looks like today. It is on another scale. Issues of focus today has crept internal. No longer is an external force causing interruption the #1 issue, it is the true ability to just remain focus oneself.     💢 Concept I am considering: Adom karov eitzel atzmo, ve’ein adom maisim atzmo rasha . This concept came to mind as I was thinking about the middah of

Torah Parallels Weekly Parshas Mattos-Masai 💭 A Thought on the Parsha: Look Back and See                         Parshas Masei opens listing the forty-two stops that B'nei Yisroel made while traveling through the midbar . If we stop and think about this for a moment, it is a little unusual for the Torah to do such a thing. After all, we know that as a general rule the Torah is very particular when it comes to what is contained in the written Torah and there is no letter that is extra. If so, how could we understand why the Torah repeats every place that B'nei Yisroel travelled to and camped during their forty-year journey through the midbar ? Rashi is bothered by this and offers two explanations.             Rashi's first answer is from Rebbe Moshe HaDarshan , who explains as follows. After reading through all the parshiyos describing the B'nei Yisroel in the midbar , it is easy to walk away with the

❓ Questions I am pondering: (Rashi 31:7) 1. How could witchcraft allow people to fly if in order to do kishuf one needs to e standing on the ground? 2. Why was the  tzitz  specifically able to stop Billam and the kings of Midian from being able to fly? 💡   Idea I am thinking about: Multiplying by Zero . A basic principle in math is that any number multiplied by zero, no matter how large the number, is still zero. This basic principle is of course true with projects, planning, and general growth and self-development. When we are hitting a “zero” we naturally tend to focus to try to make the number we are multiplying bigger. However, as long as the zero remains, the result will remain zero. Focus on removing the multiply by zero; then gradually increase the number.   💢 Concept  I am considering: 613 Mitzvos . The Rambam in his introduction before going through all of the  mitzvos , comments that the 613  mitzvos  are comprised of 248 positive  mitzvos  and 365 nega

Torah Parallels Weekly Parshas Pinchas 💭 A Thought on the Parsha: Hypocrite or Hippogriff                         Rashi points out that the Torah goes into more detail of Pinchas’s ancestry than necessary. The Be’er Heitev explains further and writes that the indicator that there is something to be learned from the extra ancestry stated here is that the Torah already introduced Pinchas to us, just four passukim earlier at the end of parshas Balak, and went through his family tree at the time that he actually killed Zimri and Kazbi.   Rashi therefore explains that the passuk here is coming to counter what people were saying about Pinchas. People were teasing him for being a hypocrite that it was not his place to get up and kill a nassi of Yisroel. After all, his maternal grandfather was Yisro who was known for his previous occupation of fattening cows for avodah zarrah . This is why the Torah ties Pinchas’s yichus to Aharon Ha’koh

❓ Questions I am pondering: Rashi (27:23) points out that when Hashem told Moshe to “give semicha” to Yehoshua, the comment was to lean his hand (singular). However, the passuk later describes that Moshe leaned on Yehoshua with both his hands. How could Moshe add to the commandment of Hashem? 💡 Idea I am thinking about: Auto pilot vs Background . There is a poem attributed to Katherine Craster which has been titled “The Centipede’s Dilemma”. It goes like this: A centipede was happy – quite Until a toad in fun Said, “Pray, which leg moves after which?” This raised her doubts to such a pitch She fell exhausted in the ditch Not knowing how to run.” Once an action, words, or thoughts becomes automatic, thinking of it consciously makes it inefficient. For example, imagine needing to pay attention to the need to breathe while performing other activities. It would be super distracting. The difficult part is the balance, or more impo

Torah Parallels Weekly Parshas Chukas-Balak 💭 A Thought on the Parsha: Dark Before Dawn                         One of the most interesting aspects of the mitzva of Parah Aduma is the fact that the one who does the sprinkling of the ash-water becomes tamei (impure) at the very same time he is making the tamei person tahor by sprinkling him with the same solution.             This fascinating paradox is so perplexing that Shlomo Ha’melech in all his wisdom could not grasp it. It is no wonder the Torah explicitly states this mitzva as a “ chok ”. To approach this difficult concept, the Kli Yakar offers the following explanation. As you look around the world, you will notice that the world is a natural habitat for opposition, and even more so – it is often through the opposition itself that the other element prevails. A light could be seen most clearly through utter darkness. Plants providing edible foods grow out of dirt, the thin

❓ Questions I am pondering: Parshas Chukas:  Rashi (19:22) writes that the  parah   adumah  is a  kapparah  for the  eigel ha'zahav and refers to it conceptionally as “the mother cleaning after its baby”. In fact, the Torah stresses six similarities between the  parah   adumah  and  eigel   ha'zahav . What exactly is the connection, though, between the  mitzva  of  parah   adumah  and the tragic incident of the  eigel   haz'zahav  (other than the fact that they are both cows) that it should be chosen to be its  kaparah ? Parshas Balak:  (22:28) Billam hit his donkey three times. When Hashem opened the donkey’s mouth, its first words to Billam was asking him, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”  Rashi writes that besides for giving Billam  mussar , the donkey was also hinting to Billam that he will not be able to succeed in trying to uproot a nation which keeps the  shalosh   regalim . What is it about the  shalosh regalim  specifica