Tag: Kedoshim

Priorities!

Israeli journalist, Sivan Rahav-Meir recently wrote about a group of Israeli teenagers who were finalists in an international competition of robotics in Houston, Texas. Their team consisted of students from the Amit High School in Modi’in and had succeeded in reaching the final stage of the competition which was held on Shabbat. They wrote a …

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Way to Say!

One of the many laws stated in this week’s Parsha is the law to direct a fellow Jew on the correct path to appreciate and observe the Torah. Understandably, one needs to use his Seichel – intellect – to understand where the person is coming from in order to reprove him without embarrassing him and …

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Mixtures!

This week we read two portions of the Torah, the second portion is called Kedoshim – holy ones. G-d instructs us to be holy – to separate ourselves from sinning. If the definition of holiness were left to the individual to decide there would be no conformity in families and communities. Everyone would choose his …

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Phone Conversations!

I learned a few things from my phone conversations this week: I called an old acquaintance of mine to offer condolence upon the passing of his father, Rabbi Avrohom Simcha Steinberg. I didn’t know his father personally but would see him from time to time and his ever present smile stood out along with a …

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Fill Up!

The Parsha begins with G-d commanding us, Kedoshim Tihiyu – Be Holy! The question is to what degree does G-d expect us to be holy? The Medrash relates, you may think that G-d wants us to be as holy as Himself, therefore the verse concludes, I am G-d. My Holiness is beyond all. So what …

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Love Should Conquer

(Torah Portion Kedoshim) Love Should Conquer We count a 49 day period leading us to the Holiday of Shavuos, starting from the second night of Pesach. Our Sages tell us that the Jews in Egypt had sunk to the 49th level of impurity. Had they sunk to the 50th level of impurity, the lowest level, …

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A Unique Partnership

(Torah Portion Acharai Mos/Kedoshim) A Unique Partnership The Talmud relates that there are three partners in the development of a human being; his mother, his father, and G-d. Parents contribute the physical parts while G-d infuses life and the soul. Ben Yehoyada brings a fascinating insight into the Hebrew word for a person – Adam. …

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Clock on the Wall

(Torah Portion Acharai Mos/Kedoshim) Clock on the Wall Love within a relationship can at times be complex. Yet the Torah instructs us, “Love your neighbor like yourself,” placing an extraordinary demand on us. How can we possibly reach such a lofty ideal? The Talmud records a conversation between a potential convert to Judaism and Hillel …

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Got to Wait

(Torah Portion Kedoshim) Got to Wait! You finally plant a fruit tree and eagerly wait to see and sample its fruits. One day your child comes running in to the house and excitedly shouts, “I see fruits on the tree!” You run outside, and there it is, a fruit has emerged! Just as you are …

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A Three Year Wait

(Torah Portion Acharai Mos/Kedoshim) A Three Year Wait! One of the many Mitzvos given to us in the Portions we read this week is the prohibition of eating fruit from a tree during the first three years after it was planted. This law is called Orlah and applies both to produce grown in and outside …

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