It will be a very long time before Moshe is actually told to teach the Mitzvah of the Menorah. Many commentaries read the opening of this portion as “When you will give over the Mitzvah of the Menorah, this is how you shall teach them...
Rashi on the portion begins by describing the meticulous process that was necessary to produce the oil for the Menorah. The oil had to have the purity of being clear, without sediment.: They would choose olives from the top of the tree that had not grown...
Rav was careful to fulfill the Biblical directive of “Dei Machsoro” – the community must provide for the specific needs of each poor person. That is until one day… One day, a poor person knocked on the great Rabbi’s door and asked for some food and...
The last communal building project had not turned out very well. It was, of course, the Tower of Babel. It too began with a unified community. It was also an attempt by limited beings to achieve great heights. When we examine the story closely we...
How interesting! The commandment is not to “separate Terumah”, but a communal obligation to collect Terumah. “And they shall collect Terumah.” Moshe descended from his 40-day time capsule in the Highest Heavens. He brought a gift with him; the Mishkan. The people were empowered by God...
Phaedrus (Plato) speaks of "Four Kinds of Divine Madness": Socrates begins by discussing madness. Madness given as a gift of the "god" provides us with some of the best things we have, and some of the most difficult. There are, in fact, four kinds of divine...
“I am consumed by a more general sense of dread, of imprisonment within the dreary world of work and home,” he said in describing why he wanted to talk. We can travel the world, share fascinating experiences, explore the countless avenues of life and still feel...
I recently read a story that made me think of the Mishkan: A soldier’s little girl, whose father was being moved to a distant post, was sitting at the airport among her family’s meager belongings. The girl was sleepy. She leaned against the packs and duffel bags. A...
My father zt”l always told me that until I understood what motivated some Japanese during WWII to slice open their stomachs in order to protect their pictures of Emperor Hirohito, would I understand what it means to relate to God as king. I tasted the experience...