A Quick Torah Thought

 Very interestingly, the Rambam teaches that a "convert" as defined by the Torah is not strictly one who joins the faith, but rather, any person who comes to a new place and feels like an outsider. That, the Rambam teaches is evidenced by the fact that we are commanded "to love the convert" because we - the Jewish people - were converts ourselves in Egypt.  In this week's parsha, this commandment is uniquely juxtaposed with the reverence and worship of Hashem, and the directive to swear in His name.                      For the LORD your God is God supreme and Lord supreme, the great, the mighty, and the                          awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe,                     but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger,...

 Moshe Rabbeinu pleads to enter the land of Israel in this week's parsha. His word choice in doing so is striking. In English there is many a word for request, each with its own register, and level of intensity - each, likewise, showing a different level of dependency on the party able to fulfill the request. From beseech, to implore, entreat to ask for, each has a meaning unique unto itself.  The word Moshe Rabbeinu chooses is "Va'etchanan," literally, "If I may ask of you a free gift." The word chinam in Hebrew means free, and the word chen , part of the root of va'etchanan , means favor, or in other words, "If I find favor in your eyes," perhaps reminiscent of Queen Esther's request of Achashveirosh.  Moshe Rabbeinu made no demands, knew that he had been denied entry into the land because of his grave deeds - upon striking the boulder that gave forth water instead of speaking to is as instructed - and as such, approached Hashem out of a ...

May this dvar Torah be in memory of my grandmother of blessed memory, Roslyn Orenstein, who's Yahrzeit is today. Chaya Rashka Leah bat Devorah The book of Devarim in many ways is Moshe Rabbeinu's greatest legacy. He reviews what he learned from the Jewish people, from their shared time together, and his reflections on the journey to nationhood, and all the vicissitudes, and challenges the journey was fraught with. Right off the bat, in the beginning of this week's parsha, we can see a hint into the treacherous path any leader faces, in addition to the self-awareness it took to be a leader of Moshe Rabbeinu's stature.  After reaffirming Hashem's covenant with the forefathers and His promise to bequeath us the land, Moshe states:  "Thereupon I said to you, “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself. The LORD your God has multiplied you until you are today as numerous as the stars in the sky.—" I would like to ask, why it is here that Moshe compares the Jewis...

 Like the best of us, this week I didn't have time to read the parsha, so rather than wax philosophical on a subject I know nothing about, I'd like to share a halachic insight into teaching children blessings.  It's universally accepted that using Hashem's name in vain is sinful. In fact, it resonates with, perhaps, the underlying meaning of one of the ten commandments. Whereas the Rambam writes that it's a mitzvah to swear in God's name to assert the veracity of a statement made - the same way I know God is true, likewise, the statement I've made is true - when one aberrates the meaning of God's name by uttering it falsely, it has the opposite effect.  The question is thus asked, "When it comes to teaching children blessings, to teach them effectively you need to teach them to use God's name. At the same time, sometimes, they'll say the wrong blessing. Sometimes they'll say a blessing on a food item, when they have no intent to eat. Som...

In my humble opinion, we can learn two interesting lessons in human relations from this week's parsha, neither of which is related per se to the parsha's namesake, Pinchas.  Firstly, the daughters of Tzelafchad ask Moshe Rabbeinu for a portion of the land. Their father having died for his own sins, they, the daughters, did not have any means of inheritance because they had no male siblings. They appealed to Moshe Rabbeinu, saying, "Why should we be maltreated?" In Hebrew: למה יגרע. Why should we be worse off? That expression is used twice in the Torah; it's likewise used by the Jews in the desert who were not able to bring their Paschal sacrifice because of ritual impurity. There, too, they use the very same Hebrew words, למה יגרע. Moshe Rabbeinu tells them, too, "Wait here, I will ask Hashem, and give you an answer immediately." In both instances, Moshe Rabbeinu, perhaps unlike the court systems we know, petitioned Hashem, and provided an answer right a...