The King’s Highway, A Metaphor
I was wondering about something related to the attempt to travel on the Derekh haMelekh through Edom. Derekh haMelekh is the name of an actual highway of the time. But it sounds much like...
Category: 4- Bamidbar
The King’s Highway, The Reality
In parashas Chuqas, Bamidbar 20:17, Moshe asks of the nation of Edom: × Ö·×¢Ö°×‘Ö¼Ö°×¨Ö¸×”Ö¾× Ö¼Ö¸Ö£× ×‘Ö°×ַרְצֶ֗ךָ ×œÖ¹Ö¤× × Ö·×¢Ö²×‘Ö¹×¨Ö™ בְּשָׂדֶ֣ה ×•Ö¼×‘Ö°×›Ö¶Ö”×¨Ö¶× ×•Ö°×œÖ¹Ö¥× × Ö´×©×ְתֶּ֖ה מֵ֣י בְ×ֵ֑ר דֶּ֧רֶךְ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ × Öµ×œÖµÖ—×šÖ° ×œÖ¹Ö¤× × Ö´×˜Ö¼Ö¶×”Ö™ יָמִ֣ין וּשְׂמֹ֔×ול עַ֥ד ×ֲש×Ö¶Ö½×¨Ö¾× Ö·×¢Ö²×‘Ö¹Ö–×¨ גְּבֻלֶֽךָ׃ Allow us,...
Anav Mikol Adam: reactions
My previous post engendered a couple of responses and a follow-up thought of my own that I would like to share. A quick reminder: In that post, I suggested that maybe “וְהָ×Ö´Ö¥×™×©× ×žÖ¹×©Ö¶×Ö–×” ×¢Ö¸× Ö¸Ö£×•...
Anav Mikol Adam
A quick thought on something from the parashah (Behaalosekha), based on how one translates the words in the title. Bamidbar 12:3. The context is that Miriam and Aharon just complained about Moshe’s neglected wife,...
The Uncounted Convert
The placement of one section of parashas Naso struck me when reviewing the parashah last week. We just has a parashah and a half of counting the Jewish People — first the 12 shevatim,...
Why Parashas Balaq?
A lesson that can be learned from Parashas Balaq…. Why is the story of Balaq trying to hire Bil’am in the Chumash altogether? The Moavim don’t learn a lesson, they remain our enemies. Bil’am...
Mas’ei — the Journey as a Name of G-d
Parashas Mas’ei opens with a description of Benei Yisra’el’s trip through the desert, and lists the forty-two stops made along the way. An oft-quoted Zohar identifies the stops in the desert with each of...
Naso: Society and the Priesthood
A thought struck me during the Torah reading this past Shabbos about a unifying theme throughout parashas Naso. Here are the topics in the parashah: The task assignments and census of the three clans...
And You Shall Live by Them
This morning’s Torah reading, Acharei Mos, included the following pasuq (18:5): שְ××žÖ·×¨Ö°×ªÖ¶Ö¼× ×ֶת-חֻקֹּתַי וְ×ֶת-מִשְ×פָּטַי, ×ֲשֶ×ר יַעֲשֶׂה ×Ö¹×ªÖ¸× ×”Ö¸×Ö¸×“Ö¸× ×•Ö¸×—Ö·×™ בָּהֶ×; ×Ö²× Ö´×™ ×”’. Guard My statutes and My laws which a person shall do them...
Qorach’s Heart
The title verse of this week’s parashah reads “ויקח קרח” (Bamidbar 16:39). The simple translation would be “And Qorach took”. However, the Midrash Rabbah takes it slightly differently, using an equally valid if less...
Parashas Matos and Kol Nidre
My neighbor, R’ Eli Radinsky, recently drew the following similarity to my attention. There is an obligation to begin add time to Yom Kippur, an obligation true of Shabbos and every holiday, but happens...
Kehunah and Unity
Back on Chanukah I wrote: Chomos migdalei, the walls of my citadel [mentioned in the poem “Ma’oz Tzur“], were not the mighty walls around the Temple Mount or the walls of a fortress. They...
Gender Differences: Oaths
The Torah uses two different words for husband: ish, in particular when used with the feminine possessive “ishahh” (her man); and ba’al. Interestingly, in the beginning of parashas Matos, the section on annulling vows,...
Tzitzis: Advance and Retreat, part II
I discussed the role of tzitzis and the various roles we have for clothing in a number of earlier posts in this topic. The following is a different take on the idea from Rabbi...
Tzitzis, Advance and Retreat
There are two descriptions of the mitzvah of tzitzis. First, from parashas Shelach (and Qeri’as Shema): … [T]hey should make for themselves tzitzis on the corners of their garments (bigdeihem) throughout their generations, and...
Different Parts of the Same Body
We can draw a theme from parashas Bamidbar through the beginning of Beha’alosekha.In Beha’alosekha, Moshe and Aharon count the Jewish People “according to their families, by their father’s household” (1:2), divided by sheivet. Sheivet...
Tum’ah and Taharah, part II
Rav Y Henken replied to my previous entry on this subject (repeated here for the benefit of Google). He wrote: See in my “New Interpretations on rhe Parsha” (Ktav) and also Shu”t Bnei Banim...
Tum’ah and Taharah
[From this week’s Shabat B’Shabbato by Machon Zomet. I found this devar Torah to be particularly Aspaqlaria-esque. See also my take on tum’ah from Mesukim MiDevash on Chukas.]POINT OF VIEW Ritual Impurity and Purity...
Parashas Chuqas
When looking at the mitzvah of tzitzis for parashas Shelach (Toras Aish: Vol. 1, No. 4, Mesukim MiDevash) we discussed at the color of tekheiles. This week’s parashah opens at the opposite end of...
The Kohen and the Menorah
Hashem chose Aharon and his descendants to serve Him as Kohanim. It seems strange. If anyone should be chosen to be the first Kohen wouldn’t it be Moshe? Wasn’t he the Eved Hashem —...
Shelach 5754
(Another version of this thought was included in Mesukim MiDevash for parashas Shelach, in the “Bemachashavah Techilah” column, pp 1-2. -micha) Inherent Tension Judaism sees man as a synthesis of two opposite concepts....
