Month: July 2020
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Let God Fight For You
There’s fighting words. And then there’s fighting actions. There are times when you have to really get ready to fight. And this is something, as you know, many don’t really understand what that was like, because we’re so modernized. But in Biblical times, this was very real. This week’s Torah (Bible) portion, Devarim (Deuteronomy), ends…
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Parshas Devarim: Fighting Words
INTRODUCTION “Devarim” (Deuteronomy) means “words” in Hebrew. Moses (Moshe) is speaking words of significance to the Jewish people, to prepare them as he turns over the reins of leadership to Joshua (Yehoshua). After these words, the people will enter the Land of Israel to conquer it through battle. WORDS VS. DEEDS So I guess just…
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Sanctuary Cities and Inner Exile – Parshas Maatos-Maasei
This week’s Torah portion talks about the commandment to create sanctuary cities for those who have committed negligent homicide. They’re sort of “living with the monks” (actually the Levites) for safety from the vengeful family of the victim — until the High Priest dies. At that point they go free. So what happens in the…
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The Streets Will Not Be Safe For Them (Parshas Maatos-Maasei)
VIdeo link: https://youtu.be/YJ7PYer-v3g This week’s Torah portion, Parshas Maatos-Maasei (in Numbers) talks about this commandment to the Jewish people to create these sanctuary cities. And I know as soon as we hear sanctuary cities, we think of illegal immigrants being protected from deportation. But that’s not what it’s about at all. There were these six…
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Parshas Pinchas: The Zealotry of Pinchas vs. the Vigilantism of Shimon and Levi
The question comes up as to why Pinchas is considered a hero, while earlier in Jewish history, Shimon and Levi received an angry rebuke from Jacob — for avenging the rape of their sister Dinah by the prince of Shechem. Briefly, Pinchas was motivated purely by God — not ego, pride or anger. But some…
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Parshas Pinchas: When Is Vigilantism Justified?
Note: I am not advocating vigilantism. If you recall last week’s discussion (about the double portion Chukat-Balak), we covered a lot of ground, including seemingly inexplicable commandments and the Jews’ tendency to constantly rebel. However, we did not talk about the incident with Pinchas, who we (Jewish people) call “Pinchas the zealot.” Let’s review what happened…
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Parshas Chukat: Faith and Our Flawed Need To Know It All
This past week we read a double portion in the Bible: Chukat and Balak (Numbers 19:1-25:9). Here we focus on the first one. Chukat – "the laws of" – "chok" – "law that has no logical explanation, you just do it." This portion relates the laws of the red heifer and contact with the dead.…
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Parshat Chukat-Balak: Rebellion Cannot Stop What Is Coming
Think broadly about rebellion. Think about it as a spectrum, from simple disobedience to full-on treason. In terms of simple disobedience, we have the difficult, quarrelsome Israelites in the desert constantly rebelling against Moses’ leadership. The Jews complain about the lack of water, bitterly and loudly. God tells Moses to speak to a rock and…
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