A Quick Torah Thought

 One of the perhaps overlooked elements of the narrative depicting Bilaam's attempts to curse the Jewish people, is the significance of Bilaam's cruelty towards his donkey. As is universally accepted in Jewish thought, every narrative element plays a role, has some function, or significance; no detail can/should be overlooked because the Torah is the only text that we have written by Hashem himself, and therefore every nuanced verse, word, or even letter not only edifies us but also shapes our lives as people. In that light, the question could be asked, "Why does the Torah go to such length to elaborate on Bilaam's relationship with his donkey?" It is to create a contradistinction between how Avraham, with great alacrity, woke at the first break of dawn to sacrifice his, mounting his own donkey, whereas Bilaam showed that same zeal when waking to mount his donkey before setting out to curse God's beloved nation? If that was the underlying significance, a mere,...

 It is eye-opening to see how the Ramban relates to the Rambam's interpretation on the nature of Moshe and Aharon's sin in this week's parsha. Perhaps what's even more interesting is the sheer variety of opinions on what exactly Moshe and Aharon had done wrong, to cause them to be denied entry into the land. Particularly vitriolic though is the Ramban's attack on the Rambam: "He has added absurdity to absurdity," perhaps an apt translation for the usage here of Kohelet's refrain, הבל הבלים. The Ramban, in his commentary on the Rambam, writes, "הוסיף הבל להבלים," words that one perhaps wouldn't find nowadays in how Torah scholars on the highest of calibers relate to each other.  Yet, for the Ramban, the question of why Moshe and Aharon were denied entry into the land of Israel was of supreme importance. "What sin could justify," asked the Ramban, and all of the Rishonim  (the early scholars) for that mattter, "could be so gr...

It struck me now that perhaps the reason for Aharon offering the ketoret, or incense, in response to Korach's move towards rebellion, is rooted in the unique meaning of the ketoret. But first, a recap. Korach sought priestly obligations, failing to realize the uniqueness of having been selected to carry out the responsibilities reserved only for Levites. Perhaps, similar to Miriam's qualm about Moshe having separated from his wife - "Hashem also speaks to us" - Korah instead incited to rebellion, espousing that Moshe had placed himself on a pedestal over the nation: "You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the LORD’s congregation?" After Korach and his cohorts are swallowed alive by the ground, and a heavenly fire summarily consumes the incense offerors, the following day, the masses attack Moshe and Aharon: "You two have brought death upon the LORD’s peo...

When reading this week's parsha, I couldn't help but say to myself, "Were you to have been one of the twelve spies sent to size up the land of Israel, you definitely wouldn't have passed the test." I tried reading the story twice, one that clearly involved human psychology, a divine imperative, a test of leadership for Moshe Rabbeinu, and a battle of wills between two competing factions, those who felt Israel impregnable and unconquerable, and those who thought the land was equally daunting but could be conquered because of a divine promise.  From my limited reading of the Torah, and I must say, it is very limited, the ten spies who spoke ill of the land, really didn't believe the land could be conquered, and genuinely felt it unwise at the present time to go up against such formidable enemies, towering giants who put chills down their spine.  The refrain of Calev, though, the spy who initially used trickery and cunning to hoodwink his counterparts into believ...