Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

Abraham does not accept God's judgement concerning the destruction of Sodom. He argues with God. In the end he loses the argument, but an important principal is laid down. God wants us to think about His judgement. He does not want us to accept it on face value.

When Abraham welcomed strangers, it was to teach them about God and what God wants us to do. You have to expose yourself to society to make it better.

The way to fix the world is to work on ourselves. If we become better people, then we will influence the world. It has nothing to do with government.

One of the lessons of this week's portion is that, while we have to have faith in God protection, we should prepare as if it is not coming.

Abraham enters the War of the Kings because Lot was taken prisoner. It did not matter to Abraham that Lot was not on his level spiritually. Lot had to be saved. This is a lesson to us. We do not ask about a fellow Jew's spiritual level, we do everything to save him.

Abraham introduces the concept of ethical monotheism. Not just that there is one God but that He wants us to be ethical. Being ethical and moral is equal to being holy. All three have to be together.

Why is Abraham considered greater than Noah? The fact is that while Noah did the right thing he never took the initiative. Abraham did take the initiative. Even argued with God at times.

The difference between Noah and Abraham is that while Noah did not try to change his neighbors' behavior Abraham did. That is why Abraham is considered greater than Noah.

The Torah informs us that Noah was not perfect. The important lesson to us is that you do not have to be perfect to stand up to evil.

In the portion of the week Moses receives his final command. To ascend Mt. Nebo and see the land that he will not enter it. This is to teach us that just as Moses prepared Joshua to lead, we have to prepare the next generation.

God wants us to do our job. he wants to see the effort we do in keeping the commandments. Just like when we crossed the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea). Before He split the waters someone had to jump in.

Yom Kipper we stand before God promising to be better. The real test comes a few days later when we have the holiday of Sukkot, in which we are commanded to be happy. Can we keep our promise to be better when we are having a good time.

God has given us free will. But that means that we have to take ownership of our actions. We are responsible for what we do. This is also the message of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

In last week's portion it says that Moses went to the people. This shows that it is our responsibility to reach out to others to help them become better people.

Moses is leaving the Jewish people. Joshua is appointed his successor. Moses wants to remind the Jews that they were freed from Egypt for the purpose of creating a moral and just society in the image of God.

We learn that the Jewish people suffered because of the assassination of Jewish governor of Judah after the destruction of the Temple. The assassination led to tremendous suffering of the Jews. Murder is murder. It never ends the way the murderer wants.

This evening is the "Jewish" New Year. In reality it is the anniversary of the creation of man. We have to remember that the reason for the creation was for man to improve the world through his actions, both spiritually and physically.

True humility is not being totally passive and accepting of whatever comes. True humility is standing up for what is right but realizing that you are part of something larger. That was why Moses was the humblest of men even though he led the people for 40 years.

Unlike idolators we are not fated to remain as we are. God has given us the power to improve our status in life, both spiritually and otherwise. It is all in our hands.

With the High Holidays approaching, we have to take into consideration that we will be asking God for forgiveness. But before we can ask God for forgiveness, we have to make it right with our neighbor.

The Torah commands us to choose life over death. We are not a death cult like our enemies. They have famously stated that the difference between us & them is that we choose life and they choose death.

As we get ready to enter the Land of Israel, the Torah gives us blessings and curses. It is stressing that we are to behave in our society as adults. And adults are responsible for their words & actions.

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we are taking stock of our actions over the past year and how we can improve ourselves.

When a person commits a crime, he believes that it is acceptable to society. While we should punish the criminal, we should also work to make a better society by making ourselves better people.

The Torah points out that if you want a just and good society you begin with the family. Everything else is based on integrity of the family unit as it is stated in the Book of Genesis. Without a strong family unit society will collapse.