Parsha Moment

If the tribe of the Levites did not sin by the golden calf why then were they obligated to bring an atonement by giving a half a shekel? True they didn't sin but as a result of the sin the angel of death returned and the Jewish people so to speak were under its control. This was all of the Jewish people and therefore it included the tribe of the Levites.

We discuss the distinction between the inner altar and the outer altar why by the inner altar the laws of what it was brought on it is mentioned immediately after the laws of its construction while by the outer altar we first deal with the laws of its construction and then at another time we discuss the laws pertaining to the sacrifices brought on it

Moses passed away on the 7th day of adar and therefore we mark it appropriately. However he was also born on this day and we don't celebrate it. The reason because the birth speaks of potential while the day of passing marks the culmination. And therefore we mark the completion of a mission the life of the person and not the beginning of the mission the beginning of life.

Moisha's name is not mentioned in this week's parasha. His name is not mentioned in many others as well. All the other times that it's not mentioned it is in the book of Deuteronomy and the book of Deuteronomy begins with the statement these are the words of Moses and therefore the whole book is a continuation of this statement.

The position of the table and candelabra were significant. The table ran east to west and the candelabra north to south. The sanctity of the Tabernacle increased on the east to west direction and therefore the table was placed in that manner to impress upon us our service dealing with the physical and mundane can be on different levels of spirituality. However the candelabra that symbolizes Torah...

Why did Jacob bring trees down to Egypt to be later used to build the Tabernacle? This way whenever the Jews were unsure if they will ever leave Egypt they would go and look at the trees and they would say Jacob said to take these trees with us when we leave so that would remind them that yes they will be leaving

The position of the vessels of the Tabernacle were significant when I person entered the Tabernacle the first vessel he encountered was the altar. The altar symbolizes prayer the first thing we do in the morning is to pray. The table which represents a person's service of God through the mundane was placed directly opposite the candelabra that symbolizes service through study. To impress upon us t...

Why are we told that the yidden gave to the building of the Tabernacle prior to being told what the money was to be used for? In order for the sanctity in the Tabernacle and Temple to be everlasting it needed the input of the Jewish people. Therefore we begin by informing that the Jewish people gave for the construction and then we are told what the construction was for

The law of not mixing meat and milk together is listed in this week's parsha to impress upon us that even laws that are beyond comprehension we should still do our at most to find reasons for them as this will help us in fulfilling them. Likewise laws that are logical we need to realize that we do them because that is the will of God

We have two phrases that relate to healing the sick. One teaches us that if a person is already a doctor he is obligated to heal the sick. And the other phrase in this week's parasha teaches us that if a person desires to become a doctor he may in fact do so

Last week was the 17th parsha this week is the 18th. The numerical value for 17 is tov while the numerical value for 18 is chai. Tov represents Torah and chay represents life. The study of Torah gives life in this physical world.

Last week we spoke about the giving of the Torah and this week we are introduced to seemingly mundane laws that would be part of any moral society. The point is that we need to realize that even these laws should be viewed as being spiritually inspired and Godly

The ten commandments were given in the singular. One reason because it was given to the Jewish people collectively as one. Another reason it was given to each Jew individually. When it comes to the performance of the commandments all the Jewish people are one we all do it the same way. When it comes to the study of Torah every Jew is different and each one received the Torah as an individual

The first word of the ten commandments anokhi is actually an Egyptian word. It is to impress upon us that G-dliness and spirituality needs to descend into the mundane into the ordinary and into the physical

Ish echod blev echod as one person but we are a composite of many different limbs and organs some are more important than others. As one heart refers to our spiritual soul and all of our souls come from the same place. Therefore one heart is a much higher and deeper level of unity

Yitro encouraged Moshe to appoint judges under him and Hashem agreed to this suggestion. Yitro felt that the yidden were not able to receive the Torah from Moshe who in turn had received it from Hashem on a very lofty level. Moshe on the other hand felt that he could elevate the yidden to receive the Torah on his level. Hashem agreed with yitro because when the yidden would enter Israel they would...

In this week's parsha we read of the giving of the Torah so why is it named after yitro? Yes yitro knew all of the idols but he recognized that the true source of life is Hashem which is ultimately the purpose of all of existence and that is why the parsha is called yitro

The third temple will it be built by man or will it descend from heaven? One approach it will be a team effort between Hashem and mankind another approaches if we will merit it will descend from heaven and if we don't it will be built by mankind

At the time of the splitting of the sea there is an opinion that all of the waters throughout the world split as well. This allowed people to make the erroneous mistake that the splitting of the sea was not a miracle for the Jewish people specifically since all the waters split everywhere. This was done in order to give the yidden free choice whether to believe in Hashem or not

We contrast two statements of Rashi by the Egyptians it says with one heart and one person and by the Yidden it says as one person and one heart.

The verse says that the Jews left Egypt in a very revealed manner. Unkelos Explains this idea and it says that it occurred בריש גלי if we take the letters of the word bresh it eludes to the besht rashbi and the arizal.

Why are we told that Pharaoh sent the Jews out of Egypt in the previous reading we have already been informed of this fact? There were Jews who didn't want to leave and they were pushed out by Pharaoh and that will explain why Hashem took them in a roundabout manner because he was concerned that these Jews who were forced to leave would want to return at the drop of a hat

The question and the answer of the wicked son. If this is a festival of freedom why are we given laws that demonstrate that we are enslaved once again? The only way we were able to be freed if we would be willing to remove the yoke of Pharaoh and the same time except the yoke of Hashem

Why by the plague of the firstborn do we emphasize that God performed this plague on his own? To teach us that when we need to save the life of a Jew spiritually or physically we cannot simply commit our external but we need to so to speak give our body and soul to the matter just like Hashem did when he himself came down to Egypt

Why was the first commandment given to the Jewish people the instruction of sanctifying the new moon? Anything and everything that we do is bound by time. Therefore the very first commandment was to sanctify time in general and then we can speak about the specific obligations that took place at specific times.