Divrei Mav

Parshas Tetzaveh 2018 Level Up! Video games don't always come with instructions on how to win. Maybe a little booklet on how to set up your game or troubleshoot it but never on how to actually win. If you want to you might be able to find a “cheat-book” online or at the library. Generally, you have to figure it out on your own. Life, you could say is like this too. We were put here to accomplish and grow, to advance from one level to the next. We have to avoid hazards and overcome obstacles. However, we only have one life and we can't afford to blow it! The kohanim (priests) were instructed to have their garments made for use in the mishkan (tabernacle) and then later in the Beis HaMikdash (temple). These were very special garments of particular materials and designs. Hashem had Moshe speak to and instruct the artisans himself. This was because, as the Ramban  (Nachmanadies) points out, only Moshe could evaluate them properly, to say who had been endo

Parshas Terumah 2018 Equal Opportunities for Greatness   The way we see it, life isn’t fair. We’ve all heard that before. It never was, and it never will be. There are successful people who run the world and others who just barely get by. Everyone wants to be successful, but Hashem doesn’t give everyone the same opportunity to reach greatness in his/her lifetime. Or does He? The parshios (plural for parsha) of Terumah and Tetzaveh are somewhat infamous. It’s monotonous and tedious as each of these parshios discuss the construction of the mishkan (tabernacle), its holy articles, and priestly vestments in great length. We receive a detailed accounting of everything from the temple itself, to the very pegs in each board. The weave of every garment and the measurements of every plank are all recorded in these parshios . Perkei Avos (Chapters of Our Fathers) mentions a concept of three figurative crowns one can wear on a spiritual plateau.  1. “ Kesser Torah” (the cr

Parshas Mishpatim Attaining the Title, “Chosen People” What does it take to be the best at something? What brings a person or people to success? To be the best, it obviously takes a number of attributes. It requires a special kind of desire to achieve your goal. It takes an unquenchable thirst for success and drive for perfection. To earn the title as “the best” you have to want it more than you want anything else - like an asthmatic wants air. I know a wrestling Coach who agrees that all that is very important but states emphatically, being the best requires first and foremost, "what are you willing to do for it? It's all about what you're willing to DO!" We can say, as a unit, our people were/are “the best” of all G-d's children. We earned the spot in the world as G-d’s “chosen people”.   The Torah this week discusses Mishpatim, (logical) laws that were given to the people for the very first time. These laws are extensive, cover a broad spect

Parshas Yisro A Man of Truth “And Yisro heard…” ( Shemos 18: 1) Allow me to introduce you to a man who is truly remarkable. This man is one of dignity and esteem, a minister and former adviser to the world authority, and a man of justice and truth. Our eventful parsha this week was named in his sake. This man’s name is “ Yisro” .  Yisro was not only a prominent figure politically, he was also the father-in-law to our very own Moshe Rabbeinu . What was so special about Yisro that he has an entire portion of the Torah in his namesake? But not just any portion but the very segment that relays the B’nai Yisroel receiving the Torah from Hashem ? As noted above, Yisro was a man of truth. He experimented with every religion and belief in his time, desperately searching for life’s meaning and purpose. He tried to serve the luminaries, constellations, and every inanimate object that was at one time called, “G-d”. Unfulfilled, time and time again. Yet his search