Humility and the Sun of Jerusalem
This week’s parsha describes Moshe as being “the humblest of all people on the face of the earth.” This statement of the Torah is juxtaposed to the unique level of prophecy that Moshe experienced and is clearly intended as the reason for Moshe’s elevated status. How did Moshe, who had such great attributes and achievements, […]
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Sinai and Jerusalem: A Journey of Jewish Faith
The story of the Jewish people takes them from Egypt to Sinai and ultimately to Yerushalayim. The Maharal describes that these stations reflect a journey into the essentials of Jewish faith. He traces how each stage in this process deepened and broadened the Jewish people’s faith in God. The Exodus from Egypt instilled within the […]
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The Commercial Spirituality of Jerusalem
Our parsha discusses the laws of business: “And when you make a sale to your fellow Jew or make a purchase from the hand of your fellow Jew, you shall not wrong one another.” At first glance one might think that all of these laws are a compromise for a less-than-ideal reality. Really, it would […]
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The Trace of Jerusalem
Our parsha discusses the yearly cycle of the holidays. The Jewish calendar follows aunique cycle of wave-like spiritual energy. There are weeks or even months without a holiday inwhich the energy is “low.” Then, we begin to think and prepare for the upcoming holiday withour focus and connection intensifying until we peak at the holiday […]
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Jewish Unity and the Peace of Jerusalem
Our parsha contains several commandments regarding proper interpersonal conduct and relationships. Notably, there is a prohibition against hating a fellow Jew, and positive commandments to love a Jew and to judge other Jews favorably. The Pele Yoetz describes the importance of these mitzvot: If we are not purified from the sin of hatred then it […]
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The Historical Consciousness of Jerusalem
The midrash in this week’s parsha notes that the laws of human purity are only described in the Torah after the laws of pure and impure animals. This structural point becomes part of a broader discussion about how human beings are described in Tehillim as being created “at the end and at the beginning.” Here […]
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Jerusalem of Fear and Joy
In our parsha Moshe speaks to Aharon twice about the special sacrifices of the day the Mishkan was to be dedicated. First, Moshe tells Aharon about what he needs to do. Then, one verse later we read: And Moshe said to Aharon, “Approach the altar and perform your sin offering and your burnt offering.” Why […]
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The Pesach of Jerusalem
The name “Pesach” originates with the word used by the Torah to describe God’s saving of the firstborns of the Jewish people: “[God] pasach on the homes of the Jewish people when He smote the Egyptians and saved our homes.” What is the meaning of the word pasach? The simple translation is that it means […]
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The Pleasant Unity of Jerusalem
On Shabbat HaGadol there is a custom to read the chapter of Malachi as the haftorah instead of the standard haftorah for the parsha. The classic explanation for this is that the final verses of the final chapter of Malachi describe the coming of Eliyahu HaNavi to herald the future redemption and therefore it is […]
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An Ohel Mo’ed Out of Jerusalem?
The Noam Elimelech opens his commentary to our parsha with an astute observation on the first verse of Vayikra. Our parsha begins “And He called to Moshe, and God spoke with him from the Ohel Mo’ed.” From reading the verse in its entirety it is clear that the initial subject of the verse is God. […]
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