Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

It is very clear that from the outset of the Parsha that the reason we are called upon to keep the commandments is that it is for our sake.

When Abraham and Lot separated Lot chose to live in Sodomdue to it being a place of wealth. He thought that the evil people there would not affect him. He was wrong. This is a lesson to all of us that who are neighbors are will affect our moral behavior.

  God makes a promise to Abraham that he will be theprogenitor of a great nation. But before they can become a nation they will have to suffer 400 years of slavery. This was to teach us what it means to be a stranger in a strange land.

Abraham was called the "Ivri" which means"from the other side" because he stood up in a world of lies and told the truth. Much like today Israel stand up for truth in a world of lies.

When God commands Abraham to leave Ur Kasdim He says that Abraham should go for his sake. God does not need us to obey the commandments. We need the commandments.

The differences between Noah and Abraham are important because this explains why Abraham was chosen to bring ethical monotheism to the world while Noah was not.

In this week's portion we have the recreation of the worldthrough the family of Noat. This time God makes a covenant with Noah and we getthe seven commandments of the Children of Noah.

The sin of the Tower of Babel was that is was a totalitariangovernment. There is no freedom of thought in such a society. God wants us to disagree and debate that way we will arrive at the truth.

The reason the Torah gives for the flood was that society was corrupt. They had no respect for private property. When that happens then society will collapse.

The lesson of the flood story in the Torah is why God brought the flood. It was due to the immorality of man. The God of the Torah is not fickle. He acts for a reason.

After the month of Tishrei comes another test. Will we dowhat is right even though there is nothing special for a month? The month ofCheshvon has nothing special. No holidays of any sort.

We do not have lectures on Simhat Torah because the Torahbelongs to all Jews. If we were to have speeches, then there would be some whowould disagree and others would feel left out. We are united on Simhat Torah.

Sukkot is the holiday, not only for Jews but for the world. That is why we invite all to our sukkot. And we conclude the holiday season bydancing with the Torah not only in our synagogues but in the streets as well.

Moses had to face the fact that he would not be leading the Jewish people into the Land of Israel. He had lead them for 40 years and brought them to the land but he had to turn leadership over to Joshua. This shows that he was a great leader. He knew when to turn over leadership.

On Yom Kippur we concentrate on our failures. But that is not how we should live. God wants us to be happy. He wants us to be positive. That is why the happy holiday of Sukkot follows Yom Kippur.

As we get ready for Yom Kippur we have to remember that our goal is to bring peace with our neighbors. We should strive to be like Aaron and bring peace.

God gives free will. It is up to us to use it responsibly.

We fast in memory of the disaster of Jew against Jew violence. It always leads to disaster.

On Rosh Hashana we look back at our actions over the previous year to see how we can improve ourselves and decide to be better.

We blow the Shofar throughout the month of Elul to wake us up so that we can correct our mistakes from last year. This is preparing for Rosh Hashana.

While Nisan is the beginning of the Jewish people, Tishei reminds us that we are responsible for our actions as a free people.

One of the most important lessons of the Torah is that we have to make an effort and God will then help us. That said, we should never say that God did not have a hand in our success.

Moses's final message to the Jewish people is that they have to maintain the standard of morality that they achieved in the wilderness.

The central message of this week's portion is that leaders come and go but the institutions of the Torah are eternal,

When we are called the Chosen people, it means that God chose us to show the world how a moral and ethical society behaves. We are not superior to others.