Redeemed from centuries of spiritual mistrust, our attention is directed to what religion has always taught us to ignore – the body. * Everybody must shine on their own. The role of mentor (mashpia) is meant to be temporary.
At an anti-war demonstration, protesters waved signs and cried out against government policies. One demonstrator with an especially loud and dominant voice repeatedly screamed at the top of his lungs, “I won’t move from here until the war ends!”
Seeing the branches of the Menora depicted as semicircles should evoke a terrible cry, in addition to the fact – and this is the main point – that the shape contradicts Rashi and Rambam, etc. It also intimates a kind of condoning, etc., G-d forbid, of the shape on the Arch of Titus, which was made to aggravate Jews and to denigrate them
After the leaders of all the 12 tribes brought sacrifices to dedicate the Mishkan-Portable Altar, Aaron was distressed that he was not a part of that inaugural celebration.
In last week’s parsha, Naso, we learned about the gift offerings the leaders of each tribe brought for the inauguration of the Altar. According to Rashi, Aharon felt badly that he was not chosen to bring the dedicatory offering on behalf of his tribe, the Levites, although the leaders of all the other tribes did so.
If one had to find a common theme in this parsha, it is that the Jewish people complained to Moshe. Some complained about their inability to bring the Paschal offering and others complained about the Manna and the lack of meat. Some just complained for the sake of complaining.
Among the advice that the Rebbe gave to strengthen one’s bitachon was the suggestion to study Chassidus áùåôé, in great abundance. In general, when a person possesses a certain character trait which is somewhat flawed and which he would like to improve and perfect, studying a part of Torah which discusses the proper form of conduct in that trait, over time, will cause one too see a change for the good.
In our Parsha this week, the Torah describes the orderly journeying of the Jewish people in the desert organized by tribe and regiment. When the Torah describes the movement of the tribe of Yehudah it uses the Hebrew word va’yisa. With respect to all the other tribes, the Torah uses the word v’nasa. While both words have the same translation, they represent different grammatical forms of the Hebrew word for journey. The question has been raised why is the term vayisa used exclusively for the camp of Yehudah?
This week we celebrate the special Yom Tov of Pesach Sheini. We are all familiar with the story of Pesach Sheini. The source for this mitzvah is in BaMidbar (9:1-14). The Yidden were about to celebrate Passover one year after leaving Egypt. The offering of the Korban Pesach was at the core of that celebration. However “certain men” were ritually impure from contact with a human body and were therefore ineligible to participate in the Korban Pesach. Faced with the conflict of the requirement to participate in the Korban Pesach and their ineligibility due to impurity, they approached Moses and Aaron and demanded, “Why should we be left out?” This resulted in the communication of the law of Pesach Sheni.
It is important to recognize that the degree to which music can assist us in liberating ourselves from dark places and especially the extent of music’s ability to energize our soul to reach higher levels depends on the nature of the music itself. The more spiritual the music is—composed by holy people or sung by people in their pursuit of spiritual goals—the more effective the music is.
The question still remains: Of all the remaining tribes and camps, why was the Camp of Dan selected for the important role of restoring the losses of the Jewish people? True, it was the second most numerous camp, but nothing happens by chance. The very fact that its members were so prolific, and thus suited for this task, indicates that the Camp of Dan also possessed a spiritual advantage over the other camps.
May 25, 2021