Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

We are all required to tithe. Even the poor. The lesson is that we are part of a community. All have to do their part, rich or poor. We cannot just take, we have to help each other and our institutions.

We went to war with Amalek because he attacked those outside the camp. These were outside the camp because they had committed sins. This is to teach us that all are important, even a sinner has importance to us.

We are reminded about the evil Amalek right after we are commanded to be honest in business. This is to teach us that if our society is corrupt and divided then Amalek will take advantage to try to destroy us.

One of the major concepts of the Torah is that holiness is not an entitlement, it has to be earned by our actions.

When a criminal is hanged for his crime we do not leave the body up overnight but bury it as soon as possible. The reason is that all people, no matter how low they are, were created in God's image.

In order to have a decent society we need clarity on what we are. This is why the Torah states that we are not allowed to cross-dress. This is to avoid confusion not only in gender but in morality.

The Torah states that we should respect private property. This is a major concept. That is the way to build a stable society. Without this then we create anarchy.

When men go to war and wage battle their emotions are raw. That is why the Torah states that if a soldier sees a woman, he wants he may take her, but it then puts limits on how he treats her. And if he still chooses to be with her the results can be disastrous.

This week the Torah deals with the issue of what happens when a member of the Sanhedrin disagrees with the ruling of the court and refuses to obey it. It points out that all must obey the ruling even if they disagree with it.

While the king's powers were limited he did have extralegal powers. If he thought that there was a clear and present danger to the nation, then he could take actions that normally would not be permitted.

We are now entering the month of Elul. We are getting ready to be judged by God. It is no accident that we ready the portion of the Torah that informs us of the importance of honest judges.

Justice and honest courts are the basis of any society. When justice is perverted, either by money or politics then everything else will collapse.

The Torah clearly wants a limited monarchy. This was revolutionary in the ancient world where the king had all the power of his subjects. The Jewish king was limited in in power and what he could and could not do.

The Torah keeps admonishing us to do justice. The difference between the Toah concept and that of idolatry is that the Torah makes no distinction over the economic or social status of the litigants. All are equal before the law.

There is no Hebrew word for slave. The concept was that we have servants, not slaves. A Jewish "slave" has rights, that a slave in a non-Torah society did not have. It is not an accident that the anti-slavery movement was a religious one.

The Torah admonishes us not to add or subtract from the commandments. This is so we do not go crazy and add things and make our lives miserable. & When we subtract we are not following what God wants us to do.

Moses keeps repeating the holidays throughout the Book of Deuteronomy. It is so that we remember that we are on a mission. Once we forget that we lose our reason for being a people.

The problem with false prophets is that what they say sounds good, but it will lead people astray. This is a warning to all generations since we have false prophets today.

We can understand the abhorrence of the Torah to the customs of the non-Jews in the land when we see how they worshiped their gods. Especially child sacrifice, an anathema to the Torah.

The curses that Moses talks about are what will happen if the Jewish people do not keep the commandments in the Land. They will end up like any other nation and will, in the end become a footnote in history.

We are constantly made aware that our tenure in the land is dependent on what kind of society we create and keep. Many empires have been defeated because they crumbled from within before their enemies toppled them.

Moses extols the virtues of the Land of Israel to remind the Jews how fortunate they are. But he also reminds them that their stay in the Land is dependent on their keeping the commandments.

If we read the 2md paragraph of the Shma carefully we discover that God does not want us to be "normal" nation. We should be God centered. If we were to become "normal" then we'll end up like many others and disappear.

One of the main commandments of the Torah is the concept of equality in the law. A judge cannot consider the social status or wealth, or lack thereof, of the litigants before him. He has to adjudicate the law equally to all.

Tu B'Av is one of the happiest days of the Jewish calendar. It comes just 6 days after the 9th of Av, the saddest day of the Jewish year. The lesson is clear. There is a future, no matter what disaster befalls us we have a hopeful future.