Naso
“Lift” is a delightfully elastic word. It normally means to make something go up.
In England it is a box that—with the help of pulleys and weights—can transport you to various floors of a building (interestingly, it can take you both up and down). In some parts of the world, it can mean a soft drink made by Coca-Cola (thanks, Wikipedia!). For a thief it means to pilfer something surreptitiously from a store (think “shoplift”). For a guy at the side of the road with his thumb out, it means a spot in the back of your car (think “can I have a lift?”). And to those with saggy faces, it can mean a chance to look twenty years younger (think “facelift”).
In this week’s Torah portion we learn about another sort of lift. In the midst of a nationwide census, G‑d tells Moses to count the Levite clan of Gershon, employing the words, “Lift up the head of the people of Gershon.” When each individual is counted, he is uplifted. No longer an isolated little guy, he is part of a tribe, a clan, a nation. He is one of the many individuals who together make up the 600,000 members of G‑d’s chosen people. And when the little guys are uplifted, the “head”—Moses and the other leaders— are given a lift as well.
Now, go and have an uplifting read.
Menachem Posner,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
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I would recall the bare beauty of the tree, and wonder again why G‑d had left the tree upside-down. What could an inverted tree possibly contribute to the world?
Exhausted and breathless, I couldn’t sing anymore. But I didn’t have to; the first cry of the baby as he emerged into the world was a beautiful song in itself...
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It’s got to be one of the toughest marketing problems of all time: selling Orthodox Judaism. You’ve got all this long black stuff. And then there are the hats . . .
It seems that the sages knew quite a bit about alcoholics. Who has been as ready to find fault in others as we have been?
Just as they had celebrated their marriage with joy, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai told the couple, so should their divorce be celebrated in joy.
“Just a minute! Wait!” cried the young man, panting to catch his breath. “You can’t go yet! You must tell me the answer!”
Try as he might, the storyteller could not remember a single tale. Perhaps he was going mad?
Although the Jubilee year is currently not observed, the reasons for this are complex and involve many different opinions.
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There are many Jews who don’t observe anything Jewish, yet the rabbis demand full observance to become a Jew. Is that fair?
I stood outside staring at the dollar bill. I wondered why he wanted me to take his money. He could make a donation himself, right?
The Talmud suggests that because the nazirite denies himself pleasure, he is considered “sinful.” But why should it be wrong to deny oneself?
The power and beauty of Jewish confession is not that we shame ourselves before others, but that we shame the evil inclination before our true selves.
Who blesses and when, the preparations, the procedure, the congregation's role, and the Kabbalah behind it all.
The kohanim remove their shoes and extend their hands, fingers parted and palms stretched outwards. What is the deeper significance of this celestial ritual?
The wayward wife, the life of the Nazir (no grape products, long hair, no contact with the dead), blessing priests and donor princes . . .
Often, anxiety takes root because a person’s external character is incompatible with his or her inner self.
The anxiety may dwell upon other issues and obsessions—but none of these are the true underlying cause.
Most souls can tolerate a few inconsistencies. But others are sensitive to every nuance.
As soon as some asp...
