Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

Untrue to popular belief, Nisan is the first month of the Jewish year. The holiday of Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of man. Nisan is the anniversary of the creation of the Jewish nation.

The Prophetic reading for this week speaks to the future building of the 3rd Temple. For Jews the way to change the world and bring the Messianic age is to do more commandments and express our loving kindness toward others.

The preparation for Passover begins in the first week of Adar, a month an a half before Passover. That is when we begin reading the Four Portions. Each has a meaning for the holiday that we are about to celebrate.

All temples seem to look the same. The Temple in Jerusalem was in many ways not different. But when we look behind the scenes, we find a start difference. The Temple in Jerusalem was built to honor am ethical and moral God. The others were not.

The purpose of the Tabernacle was to bring the concept of God to the people. God is always with us but we need a concrete example of His presence.

The Torah stresses that there was an audit of donations to the Tabernacle. This is to teach us that those in an office of public trust must be open to an audit at all times.

Most of the commandments in the Torah are easy to understand. There are a few that we do not understand the reasoning, But we have to obey them all since God is beyond our comprehension.

Hiram of Tyre was chosen to be in charge of building the Temple. He came from a low status, but he was chosen due to his wisdom and ability. This teaches us that we should earn honor through merit.

One of the purposes of the Tabernacle was to create community among the Jews. Once people see themselves as a community then they will take care of each other.

Bezalel was chosen to build the Tabernacle because of his wisdom and humility. He knew that Oholiab had abilities that he did not and that he had abilities that Oholiab did not. But together they could do a great job.

In this week's Torah portion donations were given to the Tabernacle. The donations were so great that Moses had more than enough. This is a trait of a Torah based society that they are willing to give more than is necessary. This is why the Torah places limits on how much one can give.

The Torah emphasizes the importance of keeping the Shabbat. When we read what is prohibited to do on Shabbat realize that there is something much deeper than just not working.

Haman was the most powerful man in the world during the story of Purim. But he could not get over the fact that Mordecai knew that he really was nothing. Haman was full of hubris and that was his downfall.

It is clear in the Megillah that God is directing the action. While He is not mentioned explicitly, we can see His hand in the action.

The reason that we do not say Hallel on Purim is that the status of Jews did not change in the story. They were subjects of Achashverosh at the beginning of the story and at the end. The only thing that changed was that they survived.

Mordechai could have bowed to Haman. But he knew that would be wrong thing to do at that time. We learn from this that we are obligated to stand up to evil.

The episode of the Golden Calf is amazing. These were witnesses to the actual Exodus, they crossed the Sea of Reeds. They were at Mount Sinai. Yet they built an idol to worship. It should be remembered that the hard part was to get Egypt out of the Jews.

Bezalel was chosen to design the Tabernacle. First it was due to his wisdom. But more importantly it was it was due to his humility. He would any job that needed to be done, no matter how lowly.

The Torah commands that each Jewish man give a half shekel for the maintenance of the Tabernacle. The fact that it is a half and not a whole emphasizes that in order to be able to attain holiness we need a community. We cannot do it alone.

Today is the anniversary of Moses's passing. He was the ultimate leader. He knew when to stand up and when to not stand. Interestingly, he is not mentioned in this week's reading, this shows his humility.

The Torah speaks of the High Priest, the incense, and the Eternal Light. This symbolizes the Jewish people in that we will be eternal, we care for all Jews and that we are made up of many different people with different opinions.

The lesson of the importance of the High Preist is that we are all responsible for one another. Just as the High Preist is responsible for an accidental death so, too, we come together in times of crises.

The Torah specifies how a Priest should be dressed while serving in the Tabernacle. The Priest should be aware of the importance of his duty and that he represents God to the people and the people to God.

The lesson that the Torah is conveying by the daily attention paid to the Eternal Light is that even if an action is routine, you should do it.

The greatness of Moses was his humility. He understood that he was in his office, not because of his ancestry or title but because he had a mission. He served the Jewish people. He did not expect them to serve him.