Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

A question of the flood story was why were the animals drowned. The answer is that the purpose of Creation was man. Without man there is no purpose to the animals.

In this week's portion we see that the Torah is against anarchy and totalitarianism. While it is necessary to have a government, it should be limited.

The difference between the Torah's telling of the flood story and the others sources is that the Torah gives the story a moral dimension whereas the others do not.

True holiness is not that you pray and ignore the world but that you get involved and help your fellow. This is important to remember especially during this period of holiness.

The final judgement of Yom Kippur is not given until after Simhat Torah. Why? God is interested in how we behave when we do not have the constraints of Yom Kippur. When we have had a bit to drink. That is when real repentance kicks in.

The Book of Jonah relates that he does not want Nineveh to repent, knowing what the future holds. But God has His own agenda. And Nineveh is saved because of the actions of its inhabitants, not their prayers and promises.

When Joshua is tapped to be the next leader he is afraid that he is not ready. He learns that he is more than ready for the new position. Also, that a leader cannot be his followers friend. Decision have to be made and responsibility has to be taken.

At the end of this week's portion Moses appoints Joshua to be the new leader. Moses had to leave the scene otherwise he would have undermined Joshua's leadership. He had to let Joshua lead.

The message of Ecclesiastes is that the famous are rarely significant and the significant are rare famous. Only the values of the Torah last forever. Everything else doesn't.

We are admonished that we cannot believe that God will forgive sins between man and man. But also social action that are not based on the Bible will lead to disaster.

The murder of Gedalia was the end of Jewish presence in Judeah under the Babylonians. It was caused by Jews who made common cause with the Ammonites, ignoring the fact that the Ammonites were against any Jewish presence in the Land.

The story of the binding of Isaac teaches us that, while God wants allegiance, He does not want blind allegiance. He wants us to use the tools that He gave us to make the right decisions based on the Torah.

The reason that we are allowed to repent is that we are humans and not animals. An animal cannot be held responsible for its actions. It does not know right and wrong. We have the Torah that teaches us morality and ethical behavior.

One of the lessons of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy is that when one Jew commits a sin then all are responsible. It a society is immoral then immorality will affect all.

No where in the Bible does it state that God eats our sacrifices. Instead it says that God smells the aroma, meaning that He is looking at our intent. Our prayers are our current form of the sacrifices. Again God is looking at our intent of our prayers.

Rosh Hashanah is not the Jewish New Year. It is the world's. It is the anniversary of the creation of the first human. This is to underscore that the world was created for the use by humans.

In this week's portion Moses gets the Jews ready for his imminent death. He knows that he will not be the leader and prepares for the next generation through the appointment of Joshua.

To end his long speech Moses again reminds the Jews of the danger of idolatry. The real evil of idolatry is that there is no moral code. People do what they think is correct. The Bible is our guide to what is moral and what is not.

One of the most famous statements in the Torah is in this week's portion. That the Torah is not in Heaven. What is meant by that is that the Torah was given to us as a rule and guide on how to conduct our lives.

In this week's portion we see what happens when someone marries for lust. They end up hating each other. The results is the rebellious son. To avoid this marry for the right reasons.

The Torah warns us about following false prophets. That they will always lead us astray. We should remember that the followers of totalitarian regimes think of their leaders as prophets.

While recognizing that a leader was needed, the Torah limits the power of the king. It is interesting to note that this passage was the basis for the constitutional limits on the president of the US.

The reason the Torah seem to harp on the evils of idolatry is that it is based on human morality, which changes with the times. God's morality is unchanging.

The Torah calls on judges to seek justice. Not to do justice. The important distinction is that we are human and bound to make mistakes but that our goal should always be to do our best to be just in judgements.

The Torah first worries about how we behave privately, then as a community. Finally, it shows how a Torah government should act. Here we see how the judges should judge.