Why again a census of the Jewish people? The census can be compared to an art collector admiring each piece of his/her art collection, in his personal gallery, admiring its beauty and noting its pricelessness. The census is G-d’s admiration of His collection – the souls of His people.
Why does Korach have such a bad wrap? He was a professed democrat with good lineage and genuine claim to leadership. But he was also an egotist, leading to his downfall. His political excesses and personal behaviour couldn’t match his democratic rhetoric. Our longevity as a nation is due to our ideology of Torah being…
Being counted individually in a group setting has the important effect of raising self-esteem. When you are counted, you count, provides you with self-worth and in turn motivates you to improve, grow and excel even more. That is why our Torah reading is called Numbers. The census of the Jewish people provided each person with…
In this double Sedra of Chukas-Balak, we encounter the enigmatic and perplexing personnage of Bila’am. Endowed with extremely high spiritual capacities (some say equivalent to Moses) he presents as an evil, conniving and greedy human being.
For those of you who have watched this sitcom you will have noticed how they all seem to feed off each other. Meaning, neighbours and friendship groupings really do influence each other – often without even realizing it.
f you had an acquaintance whom you invited to your home, once, twice, and he proved to be a good conversationalist, witty, and worldly, but always let go with some bawdy unsuitable joke in front of your children, would you invite him back? Despite his entertainment value, you would choose not to.
Educationalists debate the merit of beginning formal education early in the child’s life or delaying such ‘pressure’ till a later stage. Our Parsha informs us that the Leviim began at 30 days of age! In truth education begins in the womb when the child is already distinguishing sounds, words, identities, and also mediating mother’s experiences,…
We are influenced by the spiritual energies that flow from Jerusalem and also by societal environment – our neighbours. Personal strength & conviction is needed to maintain Jewish continuity. Do you have what it takes?
