Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

The danger of a false prophet is that though what he says seems to be true it is not and will therefore lead people astray. This will cause idolatry and then the courts will have to take action against people committing idolatry.

The Torah is against us treating slaves as property. The slave has rights that the master cannot violate. This means that the Torah was against the institution of slavery. The anti-slavery movement of the 18th & 19th centuries was based on the Torah.

The Torah states that we should no do what is right in our own eyes but what the Torah says is right. The problem of doing what is right in our eyes is that we will justify the evil that we do. The Nazis and Communists felt that they were moral even though they committed horrible acts.

The commandment to destroy all vestiges of idolatry in the Land of Israel is to teach the Jews not to follow the ways of the idolators. That we should be a light unto the nations by the Torah's vision of morality, ethics and justice.

We are commanded to follow the commandments but are admonished that if we do not follow them with joy then we are making the commandments into a form of idolatry.

The Torah stresses that we have to be deserving of the Land. It is not enough that it was promised us but that we have to show, through our actions that we deserve being there.

We are not only required to remember but keep in mind why we remember. We are constantly reminded that God did not take us out of Egypt to be a "normal" people. We have a mission to fulfil.

The Torah states that God will drive the inhabitants of the land out so why did the Jews have to prepare. Just wait for God to do what He said he would? The answer is that God wants to see if we are willing to make an effort.

If you do not teach your children your values then they will be filled with values that you will not agree with. This is the reason why so many young Jews today are marrying non-Jews. They do not value being Jewish.

The second paragraph of the Shma makes if very clear that we are in a partnership with God. If we do our part then God will do His. If we don't then we will be punished.

We remember the important commandments but we tend to ignore the minor ones. This week's Torah Portion comes to remind us that there are no "minor" commandments in the eyes of God.

The Torah admonishes us to remember that our wealth comes from two sources. Our hard work and God. We want Jews to succeed in business but we also want them to remember the source of their prosperity.

The 18th of Av is one of the happiest days of the Jewish year. It comes on the heels on the 9th of Av. The reason is to tell the Jewish people that there is a future. That no matter what bad thing you have experienced we will continue.

Today is the 9th of Av, the anniversary of the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem. What is important is not that we remember that they were destroyed but why God allowed them to be destroyed.

The 10th Commandment is not to covet. This is the real basis of a moral society. When we covet what others have we forget all they had to do to acquire their things in life.

In Exodus the commandment is to keep the Sabbath while in Deuteronomy the commandment is to remember it. The reason is simple, if you do not remember it there is nothing to keep and if you do not keep it then there is nothing to remember.

The first of the Ten Commandments is that God took us out of Egypt. One of the thoughts is that we were not taken out of Egypt to be a normal nation but to be a light until the other nations.

One of the prime lessons we learn is that Moses is denied entry into the Land of Israel. One reason is that his time as leader was over. His mere presence would have undermined the leadership of Joshua. A leader has to know when to step down.

The Temple was destroyed due to baseless hatred of Jew against Jew. The cause of baseless hatred is the abuse of accusations. When a person is accused of behavior that he is not guilty of he will react. And not in the manner that the accuser expects.

There is an idea that we are not responsible for our actions. This is not what the Torah says. Even if it is an accident we hold some responsibility.

There were many bad things that happened to the Jewish people during the 3 Weeks. But it is also the time that we will see the beginning of the Redemption.

The Book of Deuteronomy is all about how to set up society once the Jews reach the Land of Israel. Moses's main concern was that the Jews not copy the ways of the Egyptians or their society.

The Torah emphasizes our need to do the right thing. It is no accident that this week's portion is always read during the 3 Weeks of mourning. That is because we lost the Temple because we did the wrong thing.

The Book of Deuteronomy begins with Moses recounting the things that happened in the wilderness. His aim was that we should learn from our mistakes. Greatness comes from someone learning what the did that was wrong and working to correct them.

As we are in the Three Weeks we have to remember that we are only deserving of the Land if we treat each other properly. The reason we lost the land was in our bad behavior one to the other.