דבר תורה פרשת בהר

דבר תורה פרשת בהר

I will ordain my blessing for you in the sixth year and it will yield a crop sufficient for the three year period. (Lev. 25:21)

The Midrash states that one who does not till his fields during the Shemittah (seventh) year is a mighty warrior. God bestows blessings of bounty upon such an individual: in the sixth year his field produces enough food to last for three years - the sixth, seventh and eighth years. Why is the farmer considered a mighty warrior if he has plenty of food for himself and his family?

Daniel walked into a suit store and tried on a few different suits, but the prices exceeded his $300 budget. Also, he could see nothing he particularly liked, so he headed for the door. On his way out a salesman said, "Hey, wait a minute! We'll find you something just perfect." He brought over a suit that Daniel had already tried on, but Daniel agreed to try it on again. The salesman looked at him and said, "Wow, this suit looks really good on you. It fits like a glove. You look really slick!"

Daniel took a look in the mirror and started to think, "Two minutes ago I didn't like it, but now it's starting to look really nice." He asked the salesman the price.

The salesman told him, "It's $400." After a pause, he added, "Listen, this suit is made from the finest materials; you won't find this anywhere else..."

Five minutes later Daniel walked out of the store with a big smile thinking he had bought the nicest suit in town… Even though everyone knows that salesmen are just trying to make a sale, we are still easily convinced by them.

In the sixth year, when a person's field produces three times the normal amount, the evil inclination comes knocking on his door and says, "You have an incredible field. In one year it produced three times the normal amount. Next year you'll work the field and then it will produce 3 times the amount as well! Before you know it you'll be rich! To stop working your field now for a full year would be extremely foolish." Deep down the person knows that his field produced so much because of the Torah's promise, but the evil inclination sounds so convincing. Someone that can overcome such a challenge is a mighty warrior! (1)

Human beings are very easily influenced and affected by surroundings and peer pressure. We change our minds from one minute to the next. A strong person is one who sticks to his convictions; he does what he knows deep down to be the truth, and doesn't buy into the media's views or beliefs. He doesn't get swayed by others!

שאלות פרשת בהר

שאלות פרשת בהר

1. If one possesses shemita food after it is no longer available in the field, what must he do with it? (25:7)

2. Which two "returns" are announced by the shofar during yovel? (25:10)

3. What is the punishment for neglecting the laws of shemita? (25:18)

4. After selling an ancestral field, when can one redeem it? (25:24)

5. To what is one who leaves Eretz Yisrael compared? (25:38) 

שאלות פרשת אמור

שאלות פרשת אמור

Questions K - 2 

1. What is the name for food that is given to a Kohen? (22:12)

2. According to the Torah, what Chag is on the 15th day of the first month? (23:4-6)

3. When do we start Sefirat HaOmer? (23:11-15)

4. According to the Torah, what Chag is on the 15th day of the seventh month? (23:34)

 

Questions 3 - 5

1. What disqualifies a Kohen from offering a Korban? (21:21)

2. What is the name for food that is given to a Kohen? (22:12)

3. How many days in total does the Torah command us to count for Omer?

4. Name all of the holidays mentioned in our Parasha. (23.3, 23:6, 23:15-16, 23:24, 23:27, 23:34)

CHALLENGE: From which words do we learn that we should honor the Kohen, by allowing him to be called to the Torah first?  (Rashi:  21:8)

דבר תורה פרשת אמור

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The Creator & Sustainer

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: God's appointed festivals… For six days 

labor may be done, and the seventh day is a day of complete rest. (Lev. 23:2)

God is about to teach Moshe the laws of the festivals. Right before it lists the festivals the Torah mentions Shabbos. Why does the Torah introduce the chapter of festivals with Shabbos?

There are two steps to emunah (belief). The first step is knowing that the world has a Creator. One has to know that at first there was nothing, until God spoke and brought all of reality into being. The second step is to know that God is involved in the actual running of the world. Every issue - whether big or small - involves Hashem. He is orchestrating all events at all times.


Shabbos bears testimony to the fact that God created heaven and earth, while the festivals, which recall the miracles of the exodus, testify that God controls nature on an ongoing basis and can change it at will. By placing Shabbos together with the festivals the Torah is teaching us that both concepts are equally essential to the faith of a Jew. Belief in one step without the other is not considered emunah. It is heretical to think that God created the universe, but then "stepped back" and left it to the unfettered laws of nature or in the control of angels or other powers. Emunah is knowing that God is the Creator and Sustainer.

שאלות פרשת קדושים

שאלות פרשת קדושים

1. What is "leket?" (19:3)
2. In Shemot 20:13, the Torah commands "Do not steal." What does the Torah add when it commands in Vayikra 19:11 "Do not steal?" (19:11)
3. By when must you pay someone who worked for you during the day? (19:13)
4. What punishment will never come to the entire Jewish People? (20:3)

דבר תורה פרשת קדושים

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United We Stand

You shall reprove your fellow and do not bear a sin because of him. (Lev. 19:17)

Dan was on a luxury ocean liner when he heard banging in the cabin next to his. He entered the cabin and saw a man banging on the floor. He asked him, "What in the world are you doing?" The person replied, "I am making a hole in my side of the boat." Dan gasped, "You are what?! He replied, "I am making a hole. I paid for this cabin and I can do what I want over here. It is none of your business." Dan replied, "Listen, we are all on this boat together; if you go down we are all going down! What you do is very pertinent to me!"

When the Torah mentions the commandment to rebuke a fellow Jew it ends with the words, "And do not bear a sin because of him." The Targum translates, "And do not receive a punishment for his sin." The Targum is teaching us that all Jewish people are unified. If a Jew sins and you could have prevented it, then you get punished for it. My actions affect you, and your actions affect me - we are one unit. For a Jew to say, "What I do is my business and doesn't affect anyone else," is categorically false. It is as if I have co-signed on your loan. If you default on your payments, the bank will come after me. I didn't borrow the money - but I am responsible.

The Chofetz Chaim writes that when we die God may say to us "Why didn't you keep Shabbos, learn Torah, and recite blessings?" You're going to reply, "Me?! I observed all those mitzvot?!" But because every Jew is a guarantor for every other Jew, you bear another's sin if you did not try to correct him. Each of us is obligated to reach out to others and bring them closer to the Creator.

דבר תורה פרשת אחרי מות

דבר תורה פרשת אחרי מות

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Keep Climbing

Aaron shall come to the tent of meeting - he shall remove the linen vestments that he had worn when he entered the sanctuary... He shall immerse himself in the water in a sacred place and don his vestments. (Lev. 18:23,24)

On Yom Kippur while performing the service in the Kodesh Kodoshim(holy of holies), the Kohen Gadol would wear special white linen garments. Whenever he would don those white vestments or change into his regular vestments he immersed himself in a mikveh. One normally immerses when he's in the process of elevating himself. If so, why did the Kohen Gadol immerse himself when he changed back into his regular vestments - wasn't he decreasing his level of holiness by changing back into his regular clothes?

Every good deed is supposed to elevate a person and bring him to new heights. Every Yom Tov that passes is not another Yom Tov gone - it's another Yom Tov in your pocket. The special qualities of that particular Yom Tov are supposed to bring you to a different plane and make you into a changed person. All the commandments you perform should be on a higher level than before.

After the Kohen Gadol wore the holy white garments he became so elevated that even the regular service he performed afterwards was on a higher level. The regular service went up a notch and he therefore immersed himself before donning his regular vestments.

In life a person needs to keep climbing to greater heights. His understanding of Judaism needs to be constantly deepened and not remain stagnant. His performance in mitzvot and appreciation for prayer should be advancing constantly.

שאלות פרשת אחרי מות

שאלות פרשת אחרי מות

1. What is the punishment for a Kohen Gadol who inappropriately enters the Kodesh Kodashim? (16:2)

2. What did the Kohen Gadol wear when he entered the Kodesh Kodashim? (16:4)

3. How many times did the Kohen Gadol change his clothing and immerse in the mikveh on Yom Kippur? (16:4)

4. Where were the fats of the Chatas burned? (16:25)

5. Who is solely responsible for attaining atonement for the Jewish People on Yom Kippur? (16:32)

6. May a man marry his wife's sister? (18:18)