http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?kid=3223 Newest articles written by Nechoma Greisman Copyright 2005, Chabad.org - Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, all rights reserved. http://www.chabad.org/media/images/50/CtRx507451.gif 130 52 http://www.chabad.org Sat, 12 Aug 2006 12:00:00 EST Sat, 12 Aug 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=412496 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=412496 The Torah lists the different animals, fish and birds and gives us signs to tell us which of the many species of creatures we may and may not eat. As far as four-legged animals are concerned, the Torah gives a very simple sign: Those animals that chew their cud and have split hooves, you may eat; those that have only one, or neither of these signs, are forbidden for you to eat. G-d created thousands of kinds of animals, and in a small minority of them G-d created these two signs. G-d chose these two specific signs to be the differentiation between kosher and non-kosher animals. It cannot be a coincidence; there has to be a specific reason why it is these signs, and not others. For example, G-d could have made all kosher animals with a red stripe around their necks, or any of an infinite number of possible signs to make those animals look different from non-kosher animals. Why specifically these two signs, chewing the cud and having split hooves? You might argue that these signs are not Sat, 12 Aug 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=407107 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=407107 Home in the womb, on the road of life, lying down in the grave, and waking up in the World to Come... Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=388247 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=388247 It took 42 stages for the Jews to get from Egypt to Israel, over a period of 40 years. Each stage of the journey was determined exclusively by Divine decree--the cloud which hovered over the Jewish camp when they were required to relocate, began to move on. The entire camp then packed up their belongings and moved on, following the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was stationary they were stationary, and when the cloud moved again they followed the cloud. This is what happened through 42 stops and starts to get to Israel. The Torah states, "These are the journeys of the Children of Israel, who went forth from the land of Egypt..." (Numbers 33:1). The question is asked why the verse states, "These are the journeys..." in the plural. They weren't going out of Egypt on all of the 42 journeys. Surely after the first stage of the journey, after they had arrived in Ramses, they were no longer leaving Egypt but Ramses, and so on? After the first stage Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387976 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387976 In Judaism, spiritual purity is a desirable factor. This has nothing to do with hygiene and personal cleanliness; it is a spiritual state called taharah -- what we will call "purity." The opposite of taharah is tumah, which we call "impurity." But the truth is, it's very, very difficult to give an accurate English translation to these two terms -- taharah and tumah -- simply because they do not exist in the English language. These concepts do not exist any place other than in Torah and therefore, foreign languages don't have the capacity to provide good synonyms for them. At any rate, the Torah describes many situations that can impart this state of impurity to a person. Among these is contact with a dead body. This is why when one attends a funeral, G-d forbid, one washes one's hands before entering one's home, pouring water on each hand alternately, six times in total; this is a spiritual formula for removing impurity from your hands. A person from the priestly family (a ko Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387975 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387975 This parshah talks about a very strange commandment. I say "strange," because there are certain details of the commandment to remove defilement by sprinkling the ashes of the red heifer that are unlike any other commandment in the Torah. The commandment of the red heifer is totally irrational -- there is no rhyme or reason by which a person can figure out how this procedure makes any sense. Nevertheless, the Torah describes an exact procedure that a person must undergo if he wishes to rid himself of the impurity which is brought about by contact with a dead body. Let's say a person who lived in biblical times was sitting in his tent when suddenly someone in that tent passed away. That person, because he was in the same tent at the moment of the other person's death, has contracted the strongest possible type of impurity -- the impurity of actual death. Somebody who is at a funeral, or has to carry the dead body from the house in which the person died to the cemetery, or buries the pers Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387950 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387950 Why is the red heifer called chukat haTorah, "the decree of the Torah"? It's as if the Torah is saying, "This is the crux of the whole Torah." We know that the essence of the whole Torah is love of one's fellow: There is the famous story of the sage Hillel and a person who wanted to convert, provided that Hillel would teach him the Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel answered: "What is hateful unto you, do not do to another. This is the whole Torah. All the rest is commentary." What did he mean by this statement? He meant that love of one's fellow is the key to the entire Torah. That's what G-d wants, first and foremost. And if a person has love for a fellow Jew, that will lead to Torah and love of G-d. The other way around doesn't work. If one only has love for G-d but doesn't love his fellow, that is a terrible, terrible flaw. What is the paradox of the red heifer? It is that the Jews went ahead and gave away hours of their time in order to prepare it for somebody else. They did Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=388260 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=388260 A lesson from the seven-branched menorah: You don't have to be a carbon copy of somebody else to be a good Jew. The critical issue is, are you kindled? Wed, 7 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387021 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=387021 Wed, 7 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337065 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=337065 The question must be faced - what do we do with perfectly wearable clothing that is, at the present moment, not needed... Fri, 10 Feb 2006 12:00:00 EST http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=588346 http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=588346 In the Torah reading of Shekalim, G‑d tells Moses to instruct the Jews to contribute a half-shekel in order to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf. Our Sages explain that Moses had a difficult time understanding what it was that he had to do. So G‑d showed him a coin of fire and said, "This is what they must give." Why did G‑d show him a coin of fire rather than a coin of silver or gold? After all, they weren't going to give a coin of fire, were they? Compare this with the Menorah. Our Sages tell us that Moses did not understand exactly how the Menorah should be constructed, either. When he asked G‑d, He showed him a vision of the golden Menorah. He did not show him a Menorah of fire. He showed him a Menorah of gold. And when Moses saw it, he understood. Seeing is worth a thousand words. When he saw it, he understood. So if we see that in the past G‑d showed him a Menorah of gold why couldn't He show him a coin of silver or gold? Why a coin of fire? In order to be able to understand t Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EST