Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

The commandment to drive the local population out of the land seems cruel to us today. We have to realize the evil that those societies represented. The Torah was afraid that they would influence the Jews

The idea of the Cities of Refuge was for someone who accidentally killed another. The were allowed out when the High Priest died. The reason is that if he had been doing his job correctly then the accidental death would not have occurred.

The tribes of Reuben & Gad request permission to settle on the east bank of the Jordan River. Moses grants this on the condition that they help in the mission in conquering the Land. This is to show that we have a duty to our nation.

The Jews receive a commandment to kill all the Midianites, women as well as men. Why? The women were willing participants in the evil plans of Balak. He did not have to force them to do it. They were as bad as the men.

One of the most important lessons of the Torah is to leaders. They have to know when to step down and they have to realize that they have to prepare the next leader.

Today we begin the period of mourning for the 1st & 2nd Temples in Jerusalem. It is interesting to note that the Rabbis did not say the reason that they were destroyed was because we were overpowered but that we had committed sins against our fellow man,

The question is how Zimri could have committed such a heinous sin in public and in front of the Tabernacle. The answer is that people were not paying attention to the small details. When we forgive minor transgressions then they will commit major ones.

It should be remembered that the most quoted book at the Constitutional Convention was the Book of Deuteronomy. That the founders were deeply religious and that their writings and thoughts reflected this.

Pinchas receives a blessing from God for being zealous for God's Torah and morality. This is to teach that immorality cannot be the basis of society. Sometimes actions have to be taken.

One of the clear messages from this weeks portion is that Balak does not respect Balaam. Balaam justifies everything that Balak says & does but Balak sees Balaam as a useful idiot. Balaam does not realize that once Balak gets what he wants then he is no longer useful.

In this week's portion we get the answer to why is there antisemitism. They do not hate us because of what we do in business or for the money that we seem to have. It is not jealousy. It is because we had a conversation with God who gave us a moral code. They do not want to live according to that code so they hate us as its representatives.

Many people say that they cannot believe in God after the Holocaust. Rene Slatkin was a Mengele Twin. He was sent to Auschwitz at the age of 6. When asked about that his reply was how can you not.

While Moses's frustration with the continuing complaints from the people and his mourning his sister's death on top of it is understandable, he should have kept his feelings inside and not strike the rock.

When Miriam dies the people did not mourn her but that the well that was giving water to the Jews in the wilderness dried up. This was a major flaw in that they did not realize that the reason for the well was the righteousness of Miriam.

The Commandment of the Red Heifer is one of the hardest to understand. One of the lessons from it is that sometimes there is no good decision. That we have to make a choice between a bad decision and a worse one.

The 3 Torah Portions that we are in the middle of tell of the dangers that we face as a people and to our mission. They are there as a warning to the enemies, both within & without, that we will face.

One of the prime differences between Moses and Korach was that Moses did not care if it was his job or not. He would do it because it had to get done. Korach would say "It's not my job."

The major difference between Moses and Korach was that Moses really didn't want the job. His greatness was his humility.

The dispute between Korach and Moses was really an ego trip on Korach's part. In such a case it would have ended with Korach and his followers fighting with each other, much like the crew of the Bounty who killed each other after they mutinied.

The Torah guarantees equal opportunity but not equal outcome. The outcome is up to the individual, God gives us the tools, it is up to use them properly.

The rebellion led by Korach was logical. If the purpose of the Torah was to make us better people then why do we need all these commandments? What he failed to see was that keeping the commandments was a sure way of making us better people.

The mistake of the scouts was that they manipulated the facts to meet their agenda. The Torah warns against this by concluding this week's portion by admonishing us not to follow our eyes and heart but our intelligence and faith.

An example of someone who gave to the community and felt a vital part of the community was Benedict Stambler. When he saw that the recordings of Cantor Rosenblatt were about to be lost he took the initiative to rerecord them.

The problem of the Jews was fear of succeeding in taking the Land. It meant that they would be responsible to do all the things that the Torah commands. That the Commandments were no longer theoretical but practical. They would now have to work.

Joshua & Caleb did not follow the conventional wisdom of the other scouts. They were outliers in their views. Yet they were correct in their analysis while the others were not. This is to teach that it is the outliers who advance ideas, not those who follow the crowd.