💠A Thought on the Parsha: UPS: What Can Brown Do For You? After the experiences of kriyas yam suf and ma’amad Har Sinai , Hashem commanded Moshe to warn B’nei Yisroel not to make idol representations using silver or gold. The Kli Yakar explains that this was more than a mere repetition of the mitzva to not create and worship avodah zarrah . It was a warning to stay far away from even fairly accurate reminders and representations of what B’nei Yisroel experienced in their relationship with Hashem since leaving Mitzrayim . At Kriyas Yam Suf , Hashem appeared as an “ish milchama” which is associated with the color red, and at Har Sinai Hashem appeared as a “ zakein yosheiv b’yeshiva ”, which is associated with the color white. Hashem therefore warned that even though their intentions may be good to create images of gold or silver – like red and white - that help reconnect with the feelings of those moments, it remains absolut
Torah Parallels: Parshas Mishpatim By Daniel Listhaus 💠A Thought on the Parsha: Pear Pressure This passuk says, “You shall not go after the many to do bad; and you shall not respond to a dispute to tilt after the many.” This passuk alludes to several laws relevant to how the sanhedrin and beis din must conduct themselves. There are a couple of different views as to how to learn this passuk . Rashi explains that when the passuk says, “Do not respond to a dispute...”, the word for 'dispute' ( ריב ) is written without the letter yud (as רב ) to teach us that a judge cannot argue with someone greater ( רב ) than him in the court. For this reason, the sanhedrin would start voicing their opinions “from the side”; meaning starting from the lesser members of the court. Rashi in Gemara explaining this passuk seems to start off explaining the same way as he does in Chumash, saying that the pas
Parshas Beshalach 5774: Between a Rock and Hard Place Towards the end of Parshas Beshalach, the Torah relates that Amalek came to battle B’nei Yisroel. Like the other events in the Parsha, this episode too was a direct test to challenge B’nei Yisroel’s emunah as they left Mitzrayim. The Torah (17:11) describes that while B’nei Yisroel were battling Amalek, Moshe stood on top of a hill and when his hands were raised, B’nei Yisroel would prevail, and when he lowered his hands, Amalek would start to prevail. As Rashi clarifies, based on the Mishnah (Gemara Rosh Hashanah 29a), it was not really Moshe’s hands impacting who would be victorious, rather it was B’nei Yisroel’s trust in Hashem (looking upwards). Most of know what happened next. Moshe hands got heavy and Aharon and Chur came to support his hands. However, there is a peculiar thing that happened in between Moshe’s hands feeling tired and them coming to support him. The passuk says “...and Moshe’s hands grew heavy, so they
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