Parsha Pick-Me-Up

Notice, the verse tells Moses to Take the Levites because the firstborn are holy. That doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t it say take the Levites because the Levites are holy or it should saythe firstborn are holy, so take them? Surely, it does not make sense to take the tribe of Levi for God because the firstborns were saved in Egypt! Sources: Num. 3: 12, Bemidbar Rabbah 3:5

Join me for a special episode focused on Yom Yerushalayim with Rabbi Jordan Silvestri, Head of School at the Robert M. Beren Academy. Rabbi Silvestri and I discuss Rabbi Doron Perez's essay, 'Six Days in June on “Eagles Wings”. This special episode was sponsored by Elise and Marc Passy to mark the yartzeit of Elise's father, Jerard Cohen, Yosef ben Yehuda, of blessed memory.

What does the im, supposedly "if" really mean? The Sages tell us it means something much more meaningful than just "if." This word opens our Torah portion and contains within it so much more. Take three minutes to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more. Source: Avoda 5a.

God chose the 7th day of the week and the 7th year of the Shmitah cycle to be special for Him but the special nature of these Sabbaths is dependent upon us. Take three minutes to listen to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more.

Our Torah portion begins with our deepest hope and greatest fear: getting credit for our children or receiving opprobrium.

Our verse functions as a sort of warning: don’t turn to false gods, since, in the end, you may come to think that they are real.

Notably, this is not the usual uniform of the High Priest, clothed generally in gold, jewels, and wool. Rashi explains that the gold, reminiscent as it was of the sin of the golden calf, would have been problematic.

Some stupendous humility may be called for in such a case. Perhaps the teacher of all of the priests is not a priest. Then, that teacher will never be able to declare tzara’at, though his students could. A surprising lesson is contained here. Listen to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more.

"If a man does well, they say to him, you preceded the angels; if he does not, they say to him: (in creation) the fly preceded you, the gnat preceded you, the snail preceded you." - Reish Lakish But what does this have to do with the laws of Kashrut and ritual purity?

"I am torn within, I cry without end. I do not sleep.... Maybe Hashem has finally decided that we are no longer His chosen people?" Words and worries from the past and present. As always, the parsha comes to speak to our moment. Sources: Rabbi Yuval Sherlow, Shu’’t HaHitnatkut p. 139 Lev. 9:23 with Rashi Jer. chap. 2 with Rashi.

Do we need to earn our place in this world? We find ourselves here, and no one asked us whether we were interested. Yet, once we are here, God makes demands of us. Our parasha contains the beginning of a meditation on this problem. Sources: Lev. 6:10, Malachi 1:10, Tosefta Demai 2:8.

Soldiers on the front lines will have an easy time answering key questions. They serve the people of Israel. And the rest of us?

Surely, complex as the process was, it could not have taken six months to make such a small building as the Tabernacle! What was it that took so long that the Mishkan could not be assembled until nearly six months had passed? The answers the Sages give is mysterious. It is also precisely the answer we need right now.

Bezalel is key to the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), such that it is named after him. What is the Torah teaching us by singling him out?

There is a great secret here: That which is kadosh, holy or sacred- or its opposite- can change our lives.

The High Priest's apron requires golden threads in each strand. The gold teaches us a special lesson that may elevate our behaviors.

The Menorah has a very unusual quality to it: each of its six outer lamps faces in towards the center, so that its light travels inwards.

Negative speech, in order to qualify as Lashon Hara, must be true. So how could the Sages construe our verse, which explicitly warns against falsehoods, to be a warning against true speech, negative though it may be?

There is an important and timely comment on social ties made at the beginning of our Parasha- one that usually goes unnoticed.

What is the significance of this place, Pi HaChirot? In fact, it stems from something we learned of long ago but means so much to us now.