Day 1
Genesis 21; Numbers 29:1-29:6
Day 2
Genesis 22; Numbers 29:1-29:6
If you don’t know, or don’t remember, this Friday night begins Rosh Hashanah / Yom T’ruah / Feast of Trumpets. It is celebrated for 2 days, and the readings for these days commemorate both the commandment to celebrate this event and the birth and binding of Isaac. What do these have in common? More than you might think… (more…)
Nitzavim (“Standing”)
Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20
– and –
Vayeilech (“And He Went”)
Deuteronomy 31:1 – 31:30
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this Torah” (Deuteronomy 29:28)1
The sages say that there are seventy interpretations of every word of Torah. There are two ways of understanding the above passage that I would like to address today. The first is the following.
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God”
No matter how hard we try, there are going to be some things in this life that we will never understand. We will never quite be able to wrap our minds around a particular concept, or understand some deep spiritual paradox. We must accept this fact. However, we must not allow our resolve to turn to apathy (more…)
Ki Tavo (“When You Enter”)
Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8
“Accursed is one who will not uphold the words of this Torah, to perform them.” (Deuteronomy 27:26)
The above passage sounds harsh, doesn’t it? The reality, however, is that this is a covenant — an agreement. And the agreement states that there will be blessings if we abide by the terms and curses if we do not abide by the terms. Contrary to most theological systems, it’s not about “knowing” the right things, but “doing” the right things. Interestingly, Ramban1 points out a view found in the Jerusalem Talmud (Sotah 7:4) that if a person influences others to be obedient to the commandments, while he, himself, is not willing to do so — he is cursed. (more…)
Ki Teitzi (“When You Go Out”)
Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19
“When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.” (Deut 22:8, NIV)
Although this passage is very clear, and the “peshat,” or face-value understanding of this verse is to literally build a fence around the roof of a new house to protect anyone that may be on your roof in order that they do not accidentally fall from it. However, we can derive from it a greater point. This is called “derash,” or “searching.” The Apostle Paul does this frequently (as well as the Master). One example that comes to mind is his reference not to “muzzle the ox.” This is a commandment from this week’s parashah as well (Deuteronomy 25:9). In the plain sense it is talking about allowing the beast of burden to enjoy the rewards of his labor during the threshing of the grain. Paul, in his rabbinic style of teaching, applies a derash to this in relating it to the blessings of one laboring in the work of the Kingdom (more…)
Hashem has placed upon my heart the need to encourage several men that I know from time to time, and one way I feel that can be accomplished is to send out an email I’m calling the “5 Minute Torah.” It takes about 5 minutes or less to read it, and hopefully it will give my buddies some Scriptural insight, some encouragement, and possibly a swift kick in the pants if needed. If you would like to be put on the mailing list to receive the 5 Minute Torah, please contact me. I have chosen to begin the 5MT with this week’s Torah reading Kit Teitzi.
