אחת השאלות העיקריות בפרשת השבוע שכל המפרשים שואלים היא מדוע התורה דנה שוב באיסורי השבת. הואיל והתורה כבר עשתה זאת מספר פעמים בפרשיות קודמות בספר שמות, אפשר לשאול מדוע יש צורך בחזרה המיותרת הזאת. אחד הרעיונות שעולים... READ MORE →
Though the main topic of this week's parsha is certainly the fateful and nearly fatal incident of the Golden Calf, the opening subject of the parsha also bears study and insight. We see throughout the Torah that there is an emphasis placed on counting the numbers of Jews that left Egypt, those that existed in the Sinai desert and finally, those that arrived in the Land of Israel. In this... READ MORE →
The Torah busies itself in this week’s parsha to point out the necessity for an eternal light to always burn in God's tabernacle. The Talmud points out that the light was certainly not for God's benefit. The Lord is always beyond our physical needs and environment. The commentators to the Torah always searched for a deeper and more understandable meaning to this commandment. Many ideas have... READ MORE →
The main moral thrust of this week's parsha is the challenge to take the mundane and ordinary and make of it something spiritual, holy and eternal. To our sorrow, we are well aware of how the supposedly holy can be made tawdry, cheap and negative. Thus the challenge of the opposite is truly a daunting one. Dealing with money, gold and silver, workers, artisans and the like usually inhibits... READ MORE →
The Torah reading of this week deals with the difficulties and pettiness of human life. I find this to be extraordinary since only last week the Torah dealt with the exalted principles and values system of holiness as represented by the Ten Commandments. It seems to be a letdown to have to speak about oxen goring and people fighting, enslaving and damaging one another when we were apparently... READ MORE →
It is well known that there is a difference of opinion as to whether Yitro’s arrival in the camp of Israel in the desert occurred before or after the revelation and granting of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Even if we say that Yitro arrived before the momentous event of Mount Sinai and that the Torah is recording events in a chronological manner, it still is difficult for us to understand. Why... READ MORE →
The centerpiece of this week's parsha is naturally the great song of Moses and of the Jewish people after their moment of deliverance from Pharaoh and the flooding sea. This song of Moses and of Israel is repeated daily throughout the centuries of Jewish life in our morning prayer service. The exultation of the moment is still retained and felt many generations later in the unmatched prose... READ MORE →
In this week's parsha the narrative of the Exodus from Egypt reaches one of its most climactic moments. Pharaoh finally succumbs to the pressures of the plagues and to the demands of Moshe and of the God of Israel. The last three plagues that are discussed in detail in this week's parsha are those of the locusts, darkness and the slaying of the firstborn. These plagues represent not only... READ MORE →
The Lord, so to speak, bemoans to Moshe the lack of faith exhibited by him and the Jewish people during the moments of crisis in their encounter with Pharaoh and their Egyptian taskmasters. God points out that the previous generations of the founders of the Jewish people never wavered in their faith and belief that God's covenant would be fulfilled, no matter how harsh the circumstances of their... READ MORE →
הקב"ה מתאונן, כביכול, בפני משה על חוסר האמונה שלו ושל בני ישראל ברגעים של משבר במפגשים שלהם עם פרעה ועם המצרים שמשעבדים אותם. הקב"ה מציין שלאבות, לדורות הקודמים של בני ישראל, לא היה ולו רגע אחד של היסוס או ספק באמונה... READ MORE →
