Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah

We count the Omer up and not down. Usually, we count down in anticipation of an event. The reason for the counting up is that we are preparing to become a people.

The reason that the Mishkan, or Tabernacle was in the center of the Israelite camp in the wilderness was to teach the Jews that the Torah is their constitution. That they are on a mission from God.

The Book of Numbers is called this because there are so much census taking of the Jews. The question is why? The answer is to show that there are no extra people. Everyone counts.

The name of the portion of the week is Bemidbar, in the wilderness. The Jewish people were organized by tribes surrounding the Tabernacle. This was to show that, while each tribe had its own mission and unique qualities, they were united in their mission for God.

Nations do not suddenly cease to exist. They get destroyed from within through corruption and violence. Long before the barbarians conquered Rome it was destroyed by these things.

The Torah states that if you carry out the mitzvot then you will be blessed with a good economy. The meaning of this is that the wealth is spread by the businessman hiring people to increase his earnings and paying the employee a decent salary so that all benefit.

It was no accident that the founding fathers chose a verse from this week's portion to be laced on the Liberty Bell. It sent the message that in America we are not bound by our previous economic status. We can overcome our past.

The Book of Leviticus ends with a reminder that all the work that we do in the Tabernacle is irrelevant if our society does not reflect our moral and ethical values.

The Torah is concerned what type of society do we want. That is why it lays down laws concerning the behavior of the Priests, that we celebrate time, that we take care of the poor properly and with respect, and that we keep our speech within due bounds.

The Torah is concerned with the dignity of all members of society, even the poor. That is the reason that the poor have to glean the wheat so that they can say that they had a hand in making it into bread.

We learn that we have to be careful in what we say. There are those who will take our words and use them to justify evil acts. One who speaks like that is as guilty as the one who pulled the trigger.

The priests in the Tabernacle had to be physically perfect. They could not have a blemish. The reason is that they were the spiritual representatives of the people to God and God's representatives to the people.

The theme of the Torah is that without structure then spirituality will fail. We need structure so that our society will attain the spirituality we crave.

The Haftorah for this week comes from Amos where he points out that piety is not enough. We were chosen to build a just society. That it is not a one way street. God gives the land but if we do not build a just society then we will lose the land.

The Torah is clear, the reason for the offerings in the Tabernacle was so that we would create a better society based on God's laws.

Today is Israel Independence Day. The story of the liberation of our land from foreign intruders is nothing less than miraculous. We celebrate the independence and security of the State of Israel.

The reason that Acherei Mot comes before Kedoshim is to teach us that our rituals are what make our good actions possible.

During the month of Iyar we go from the sadness of loss to the happiness of success. We mourn the soldiers who fell in defending our people and land to a celebration of our independence in that land.

Creating life is holy if done properly. There is a problem in Israel in that the sperm of a fallen soldier can be used in invitro fertilization so that the memory of the soldier can live on. This is a major issue with Jewish legal ramifications.

We don't realize the damage we do when we gossip about others. We should strive to talk about issues and philosophical ideas, not gossip.

One of the mistakes that we make is that we think we can reason with anti-Semites. Their hatred is so great that it defies reason. As was told to me many years ago, you simply cannot reason with a rabid dog. You have to realize that its either you or the rabid dog.

The Parsha deals with a spiritual disease caused by lashon hara, gossiping. Lashon hara is true but negative. It is bad for everyone involved.

There is a spiritual and physical connection between the laws of kosher animals. It reminds us that as humans we are both spiritual and physical beings.

Passover is the holiday of Jewish freedom, yet we have very strict limitations on what we can eat. This is to teach us that freedom has limitations.

We are encouraged to ask questions at the Seder. The reason is that this is a sign of being a free people.

When we look at the 4 sons as 4 generations, we get a deeper understanding what the Hagadah is point out. How the wise son leads to the wicked, who leads to the simple who then leads to the one who doesn't know how to ask.

The questions asked by the four sons reflect how we handle them. The wise son needs to be reminded that the Seder is to be experienced. The wicked son needs to be exposed as a disrupter.

We rely on God's protection, but we have to remember that first we have to prepare for the worse. Without God's protection, we would have been destroyed long ago.

We call the 1st of Tishri the "Jewish New Year". This is wrong. The 1st of Tishri is when man was created. It is the beginning of the world. The Jewish New Year is the 1st of Nisan, when the Jews became a nation.

The Torah says that when a leader sin. It assumes that the leader will make a mistake. It is the nature of the position. He then has to bring a sin offering to atone for his mistake.

Moses was the humblest of men. This might sound strange but if you asked him, he would have said that he did what had to be done. That he just happened to be in place at the time.

That Moses's name does not appear in this week's portion of the Torah is important in that it shows that no one is indispensable. We can all be replaced. This does not mean that we should do nothing. We have a job to do. We might not complete it but we still have to do it.

Teruma teaches us to prepare to build the Tabernacle for a better life. The month of Adar teaches us to be happy and that we are not victims no matter what comes our way.

God commands us to build Him a home so that He can dwell among us. What God really wants is for us to have a just society. That we treat each other with respect.

The reason that God wants us to help in the building of the Tabernacle is to show us that this is a partnership with God. That our job is to bring God down to this world through the commandments.

The key to a just society is that the judges follow the law. That they do not favor either the wealthy or the poor. All are equal before the law and cases can only be tried on the facts or the evidence. Not on anything else.

That we get societal laws right after the revelation at Mt. Sinai teaches us that the spiritual laws are important but is our society is unjust then the spiritual laws will not matter.

The Third Commandment states that we cannot take God's name in vain. This means that we cannot commit a sin in God's name. That we can do the right thing for the wrong reason but never the wrong thing for the right reason.

The Second Commandment is against idolatry. This does not just mean worshiping statues but ideology. We have to be careful not to allow our politics, or even our religious practice to make us lose site of the real goal. The Torah was given to make us better people.

Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, arrives and sizes up the situation. He sees that Moses has taken a lot on himself. He gives some constructive criticism for leadership. Moses realizes that this is all meant for the good and accepts it.

The week's portion ends with the attack of Amalek. Amalek has no reason to attack the Jews. Just pure hatred. And they attack the weakest in society. That is why we have to defeat Amalek whenever they raise their hand against us.

The final act of Moses in Egypt was to retrieve Joseph's bones. This is because we do not leave anyone behind and we do not forget anyone. We take care of all in our nation.

Why did Pharaoh assume that the Jews would return after their festival? That is because he misunderstood that when Moses said that the Jews had to go out to serve God that it was about learning how to live, not just prayer. This is the major innovation of the Bible. Religion is not just for Synagogue but about life.

The story of the crossing the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) is the story of the Jewish people. We have to realize that in order to succeed we have to try. If we do not try, we will never succeed.

More important than God taking the Jews out of Egypt is why. And that the next generation know this. If they will not be taught, then they will make up reasons that have nothing to do with the story.

The entire social structure of Egypt was built on lies. What the plagues did was to strip away all the lies. Egypt was destroyed. The Jews were building on the truth of the Torah.

The Pascal sacrifice in Egypt was to teach the Jews that they were no longer under Egyptian rule, just as it was to teach the Egyptians that their entire society was based on a lie.

The ninth plague was to teach both the Jews and the Egyptians that idolatry is darkness while the Torah is light. When we stray from the Torah we enter into darkness.

The first commandment that the Jewish people received as a people was to declare the new month. Keeping time connotes freedom. We are now responsible for keeping time and what we do with it.

When Moses began his mission, he and his brother were alone. By the end they were the natural leaders and Egypt was destroyed. The were standing for the right thing while Pharaoh tried to lie his way out.