This week’s parsha deals with a concept that is not widely understood. What is Teruma? Why is there Teruma? What purpose does it serve and why pay attention to the idea? Concisely, Teruma is stuff dedicated to Hashem. Teruma comes in many shapes and sizes; a primary characteristic is that Teruma is given voluntarily. Teruma…
We will do and we will hear. The children of Israel state this phrase to Hashem at Sinai. Much has been written about it, with good reason. One would think that the phrase should be reversed, we will hear and we will do. But the children of Israel did not respond this way, they responded…
In the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat 88b, the Sage Yehoshua Ben Levi explains that when Hashem uttered the first words of the Dibraya, all the people at Sinai died. That is, the Neshama of all of Israel, at Sinai, left their bodies. He derives this from Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) 5:6, which states “My…
ה’ אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה ‘ה שְׁמוֹ׃ HaShem is a man of war, HaShem is His Name Ex 15:3 In this week’s Torah portion, Israel has its back to the sea and is surrounded by the army of Egypt. This is the most technologically advanced army of its age. It has M1 chariots, and Israel has no…
Parshat Bo ends in chapter 13 with a series of commandments given to the children of Israel before Sinai. The children of Israel are commanded to keep the Festival of Matzah year-by-year. We are commanded not to eat anything with leavening for 7 days. We are commanded to tell our sons that we keep this…
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