This week’s Parshiot, a double, Matot-Maasey, is quite disturbing. Not surprisingly, it coincides with the incredulous events taking place in Israel today, specifically, the challenges to the judicial system and the threat to an already fragile democratic society. It parallels the Parsha in the sense that how a people acquires the power, morally and spiritually, to succeed in creating a society based upon justice and loving kindness is in question. Do we not see this struggle in many countries throughout the world?
Read MoreWell, we just got back from the Promised Land! Actually, not the biblical Promised Land. We spent several days in and around Canaan Valley, West Virginia. It was the perfect place to go if you’re into the Parshiot this week. Matot-Masey, a double Parsha, brings us to the mountains overlooking the Promised Land. The Israelites are about to enter and in Masey we recall the forty-two stops along the way.
Read MoreThis Shabbat we conclude the Book of Numbers with great emphasis on the seriousness of vows and how we use our words. Dramatically, the Parsha also describes the battles with forces that threaten the new nation and her unique mission. The verses of the Torah describe the “holy war” to crush the Midianites. A Hassidic master, the Ishbitzer, noted how the word Midian shared the same letters as the Hebrew word for illusion, Dimyon.
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