Shabbat Nachamu

Va-et'chanan Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11

“Answering Unanswered Prayers”

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb for The OU

Did you ever really pray for something you wanted? I mean, really fervently, desperately, pray hard for something that was vitally important to you?

If you did, and I think we all pray this way at moments of urgency, you violated an anonymous piece of wisdom:

“Be careful what you pray for, because you just might get it.”

I have not been able to determine who said that. But I know clearly what he meant. In my own life, I have had more than one occasion to look back at answered prayers, which achieved what turned out to be very trivial objectives. And I have certainly been disappointed in prayer, only to learn that in the long run, I was much better off without the benefits of whatever I prayed for so earnestly.

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Shabbat Chazon

Devarim, Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb for The OU

The Path to Eloquence

It is an experience common to all freshmen. One comes to a new campus, knows no one, and tries to orient himself by identifying the senior students who seem to have prestige. Then, he tries to connect with these campus big shots.

This was my experience precisely when, many years ago, I explored a new yeshiva at a transition point in my life. I was barely 19 years old, and I was trying to decide whether I would pursue an exclusively Talmudic education or combine my Talmud studies with college courses. I decided to spend the spring semester in an elite institution devoted only to Talmud, and to determine whether this approach suited me.

I quickly came to learn that the senior students were organized in a kind of hierarchy which reflected their respective degrees of erudition and their relationship to the world-famous dean of the school. I was somewhat impressed by all of them, but one in particular stood out for me. I do not recall his name now, but I can close my eyes and easily conjure up an image of him.

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Matot-Mas'ei

Numbers 30:2-36:13

The Nature of a Vow

By Rabbi Bernie Fox for OU
“And Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes saying, “This is the matter that Hashem commanded” (BeMidbar 30:2)

This pasuk introduces the most comprehensive discussion in the Torah of the laws governing vows. What is a vow? A vow is a means by which a person creates a personal obligation or restriction. One reason a person makes a vow is to obligate oneself to offer a sacrifice. This person would verbalize a commitment to bring an Olah sacrifice. Once this commitment is verbalized as a vow, the person is obligated to bring the offering. Failure to bring the offering is a violation of a binding Torah obligation.

A person might also make a vow to donate a certain sum to charity. However, vows can also relate to issues that are more mundane. A person eager to control one’s diet might make a vow to eat at least one vegetable each day.

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Pinchas

Numbers 25:10−30:1

A Count Of Love

The census that occurs immediately after the plague for the sin with Midian reassures the Children of Israel that they are still God's partners in the covenant.

By Rabbi Reuven Spolter, provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox Congregations for  MyJewishLearning.com

After outlining the reward that Pinhas was to receive for his zealotry, God commands Moshe to attack and punish the nation of Midyan for enticing the Jewish people to sin and for causing the plague that nearly consumed them. Yet, immediately following this command, the Torah abruptly changes direction, stopping in mid-sentence to begin a new count of the people.

Several questions arise from this strange turn in the text. Why does the Torah end the story of the strife with Midyan so abruptly? What is the function of the new census? And why is it connected to (and then disconnected from) the story of Pinhas?

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