Divrei Mav

Shavuos 2018 Shavuos & The Torah What is Shavuos ? Shavuos is a holiday that marks the completion of the seven week “ Omer ” period from when the Jewish people were liberated from Egypt to when they received the Torah at Mount Sinai. There, we experienced a revelation that no other nation has even attempted to claim throughout history. All 600,000 neshamos (souls) watched as the “Heavens opened” and we received the greatest gift known to man, the Torah . We celebrate this holiday by re-accepting the Torah through many hours of study throughout the holiday. Many even have the custom to stay up all night and learn Torah together at the shul (synagogue). What is the Torah ? If you ask Google, Siri, or Alexa you’ll probably get an answer something like this, “ The Torah is the central reference of Judaism and has a range of meanings. The Torah is the law of G-d as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures. ” While that IS t

Parshas Bamidbar 2018 Focal Point “ The Tent of Meeting shall travel along with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps.” ( Bamidbar 2:17) After the Jewish people experienced the revelation at Mount Sinai where they received the Torah and became a people with a purpose, they then travelled through the desert towards the promised land of Israel (then known as “Canaan”). As you can imagine travelling with an entire nation of people was a huge endeavor we know there were 600,000 men at Har Sinai , men between twenty and sixty years of age not including women. To keep things in order Hashem had Moshe organize the people into twelve sections corresponding to their tribe. The formation of the people had everyone surrounding the tribe of Levi (some say in a circular shape others say in a square shape) where the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was set up and where the Torah was kept. This made the Torah the focal point of not only the nation’s spirituality but of their physical

Parshas Behar 2018 Take A Step Back Torah commentaries will often take a step back from the details of a section and compare the section itself to other sections in the Torah . They will try and understand why each sub- parsha was placed where it is to learn more and get a better idea of the bigger picture. The name of the parsha this week is Behar . Behar translates to “on the mountain (Sinai)”. Many mitzvos (commandments) were taught by Hashem at Har Sinai and one of those mitzvos is the shemittah year. The shemittah year, is a one in every seventh year “rest” from farm-related work. The passuk states, “ Six years you may sow your field…. but in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest….” ( Leviticus 25:3-4). Just like we have a Shabbos at the end of every seven days and honor it by refraining from work, Hashem ordained a sabbatical year at the end of every seven years where we are forbidden to work the fields. In this year of rest

Parshas Emor 2018 Eat the Bullet There is a mitzvah (commandment) in the Torah that potentially can be fulfilled be everyone but isn’t. This mitzvah is to die “ al kiddush Hashem ” (for the sake of G-d). Emor contains 63 mitzvos ; 24 positive (performative) and 39 negative (prohibitive). Of these 63, Mitzvah #295 and Mitzvah #296 (of the 613) are both very important and have very practical everyday application. Mitzvah #295 is, “ And you shall not desecrate My holy Name ” and Mitzvah #296 is, “ So that I may be sanctified among the children of Israel ”. These two mitzvos are actually part of the same passuk as it says, “ You shall not desecrate My holy Name, so that I may be sanctified among the people…” (Leviticus 22:32) We are forbidden to do anything that will desecrate Hashem’s Name. In Hebrew this is called a “ chillul Hashem .” When we can, we are supposed to sanctify His Name bringing about “ kiddush Hashem ”. To be m’challel (dese