Parsha

The Mishkan’s construction is described at length, down to the finest detail. What, in fact, is the importance of these small details?

The incense that burned on this altar has always attracted special interest for its unusual life-giving properties

Was it not enough for Aharon to have the Jewish people on his heart? Why the shoulders too?

The bells, which have sound, allude to the voices of Torah; the pomegranates allude to speech which should be silenced, either because it is inappropriate or it is lashon hara.

I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. -Henry David Thoreau

The worst violations of Torah law, corresponding to defects in the underlying character of the perpetrator, are three crimes due to which the first Beit HaMikdash was destroyed and which Rambam famously decreed one must be martyred for rather than violate: wanton bloodshed (i.e., murder), fornication, and idolatry.

The Olas Tamid adds that we should daven to be spared from death by the sword and by wild animals. We are taught in Masechtas Derech Eretz Zuta, in the chapter of peace, that if Hashem didn’t bless the world with peace we would be ravaged by the sword and by animals.

By submerging individual identity into the collective Hebrew nation, the kohanim work to cleanse the children of Israel from all transgressions and to inspire the people with a powerful show of kedusha.

There are different opinions on how the Kohen Gadol would receive the answer to the question. According to one opinion, the letters on the stones were illuminated forming the words of the answer. According to another, the letters stood out and became extruded.

Gold, silver and copper.

They are a reminder that everything can suddenly be turned upside down – and turn out for the best.

What can the Mishkan teach us about the ways Divine revelation is channeled into our world?

The measure of things...

There are only ever very few individuals who rise to this level, and even when all of Israel are serving Hashem faithfully and achieving our individual tasks, most people at best are just sparks of light and not enough to maintain an ongoing presence of Divine imbuement.

Why was it necessary to use specific wood from specific cedar trees? The other raw materials used in building the Mishkan were simply from the spoils that Am Yisrael took with them from Egypt – gold, silver, wool, linen, etc.

The vital Torah learning is that which the children are taught. When the Torah speaks of the wings of the Keruvim spread over the Aron it alludes to the learning of the children that covers and protects us from the nations of the world.

During their courtship and their engagement, they were ablaze with giving. This created an atmosphere of love. After the chupah however, they sadly change tracks and shift into the taking mode – and that is when the love starts to dissipate.

Mitzvot for your adversaries.

It is explained that when an orphan is insulted or humiliated it calls painful attention to his plight. Not only is he anguished by the torment itself, but he is further distressed that his parents are no longer in his life to prevent this from happening, and he has no one with whom to share his pain.

How should we understand the difference between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah within the context of Israel's identity and development?

An executive is a man who can make quick decisions and is sometimes right. -Elbert Hubbard

I believe that the Torah is telling us something more nuanced. I think it is telling us that God wants the people to listen to Moshe even when he is wrong!

Every nation establishes its own code of ethics. One might think that we Jews also conceived our own ethics. To disavow us of that conceited notion, our Jewish book of ethics, Maseches Avos, starts out by reminding us that our ethics come from Sinai.

According to both schools of thought, the Ramban and the Rambam, illness and disease are the result of an imbalance caused by eating and drinking the incorrect food and drink, which upsets the biochemical balance in the body and lowers the immune system.

Of the righteous it says, V’atem hadevekim ba’Hashem Elokeichem chaim kul’chem hayom – You who are attached to Hashem your G-d (by living correctly) are all alive today. Thus, v’chol hachaim yoducha selah means all those who are truly alive will thank You.

Points to ponder include appreciation of current events, recognition and Hakarat Hatov, sensitivity to others, and creative problem solving.

One example of the special evaluations that school children in Israel have received in recent days is a Certificate of Heroism.

Why were the Hebrews so surprised by the sudden realization that they would receive the Torah as a set of laws & a mission for the rest of humanity?

In this week’s Parsha Yisro says baruch Hashem asher hitzil eschem miyad Mitzrayim, blessed is Hashem who saved the Jewish people from the hands...

When we show kindness to one another and demonstrate that we can be identified with the principle of attending to the genuine needs of another, we also make ourselves worthy of Hashem’s attention to us.