D'var Torahs

ProtecteBProtected and Blessed by G-d: The Blessing of Looking Upd:: The Blessing of Looking Up Parshiyot Chukas and Balak, read together this year, share a profound message: recognizing G-d's protection and responding with gratitude. In Chukas, after the death of Aharon, the Jewish people lose some of the miraculous protection that had surrounded them in the wilderness. The Clouds of Glory disappear. In addition, the people begin to complain about the manna, the heavenly foo

Defending the Light: Korach, Moshe, and the Angel of Death Parashat Korach is often understood as a story about rebellion against leadership. It is also a story about preserving the chain of transmission, the mesorah that connects Heaven with Earth. Korach presents himself as a champion of equality. "The entire congregation is holy," he argues. If everyone is holy, why should Moshe and Aharon lead? But Korach's challenge was not merely against Moshe. It was against the very i

It's About the Mission! One of the fascinating contrasts between this week's parsha and the haftarah is the identity of the spies. In Parashat Shelach, the spies are leaders, princes, heads of the tribes. They were men whose names and reputations were known to all. Forty years later, when Joshua sends spies into Jericho, they are anonymous. We never learn their names. Sometimes when our name, status, or ego becomes part of the mission, we stop seeing clearly. The spies in our

Between the Inverted Nuns In this week's parsha, Beha'alotcha, we encounter two verses set apart from the surrounding narrative by a pair of inverted Hebrew letter nuns: "And it was when the Ark traveled, Moshe said: 'Arise, Hashem, and let Your enemies be scattered; let those who hate You flee before You.' And when it came to rest, he said: 'Return, Hashem, among the myriads of Israel.” These inverted nuns appear nowhere else in the Torah and signal that these verses are uni

Covered in Holiness Covered in Holiness In this week’s parsha, we encounter the holy task entrusted to the Levites as they cared for and transported the Mishkan/Tabernacle through the desert. The vessels had to be carefully wrapped and covered before they could be carried. The Torah is very protective of these sacred objects. They were not to be exposed unnecessarily or looked upon casually. Judaism teaches us that the holier something is, the more carefully it must be treate