Shabbat HaHodesh; Vayikra

Leviticus 1:1−5:26; Maftir: Exodus 12:1-20

The Sins of a Leader

Britain's Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Leaders make mistakes. That is inevitable. So, strikingly, our parsha implies. The real issue is how he or she responds to those mistakes.

The point is made by the Torah in a very subtle way. Our parsha deals with sin offerings to be brought when people have made mistakes. The technical term for this is shegagah, meaning inadvertent wrongdoing.[1] You did something, not knowing it was forbidden, either because you forgot or did not know the law, or because you were unaware of certain facts. You may, for instance, have carried something in a public place on Shabbat, either because you did not know it was forbidden to carry, or because you forgot it was Shabbat.

The Torah prescribes different sin offerings, depending on who made the mistake. It enumerates four categories. First is the High Priest, second is “the whole community” (understood to mean the great Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court), a third is “the leader” (nasi), and the fourth is an ordinary individual.

In three of the four cases, the law is introduced by the word im, “if” – if such a person commits a sin. In the case of the leader, however, the law is prefaced by the word asher, “when.” It is possible that a High Priest, the Supreme Court or an individual may err. But in the case of a leader, it is probable or even certain. Leaders make mistakes. It is the occupational hazard of their role. Talking about the sin of a nasi, the Torah uses the word “when,” not “if.”

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Shabbat Parah; Vayak'heil/P'kudei

Exodus 35:1–40:38

Britain's Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks on the Orthodox Union

Team-Building

How do you remotivate a demoralized people? How do you put the pieces of a broken nation back together again? That was the challenge faced by Moses in this week’s parsha.

The key word here is vayakhel, “Moses gathered.” Kehillah means community. A kehillah or kahal is a group of people assembled for a given purpose. That purpose can be positive or negative, constructive or destructive. The same word that appears at the beginning of this week’s parsha as the beginning of the solution, appeared in last week’s parsha as the start of the problem: “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered [vayikahel] around Aaron and said, ‘Make us a god to lead us. As for this man Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’”

The difference between the two kinds of kehillah is that one results in order, the other in chaos. Coming down the mountain to see the golden calf, we read that “Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.” The verb פרע, like the similar פרא, means “loose, unbridled, unrestrained.”

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Ki Tisa

Exodus 30:11-34:35

Veiling And Unveiling

Moses was sensitive to the needs of the people, changing his appearance in order to enhance their ability to communicate with him.

By Rabbi Aaron D. Mehlman, provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox Congregations for MyJewishLearning.com

When Moses returns from Mount Sinai after forty days and nights, he descends with more than just the second set of luchos (tablets).

 Moses brings the very Shechinah (divine presence) with him as well.

The Torah teaches that after receiving the Law, Moses’ face shone. The Daas Zekeinim Mibaalei Tosafos (collection of comments by the Tosafists of the 12th and 13th centuries in France and Germany) explains that the luminosity of Moses face was, in fact, the light of the Shechinah. Hashem transferred the splendor of His presence to Moses in order to assure a post-golden-calf Klal Yisrael (people of Israel) that no other leader was as worthy as Moses. Subsequently, they unanimously received him as their leader.

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Shabbat Zachor; T'tzaveh

Exodus 27:20−30:10

Moses's Absence

Parashat Tetzaveh foreshadows the connection the Children of Israel will have with God after the death of Moses.

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

Hashem [God] continues His instructions for the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), which will

It is a well-known observation that, from the beginning of Exodus until the beginning of Deuteronomy, there is not a Parashah in which Moses is not mentioned, except for Parashat Tetzaveh, which is always read close to the seventh day of Adar, the anniversary of Moses's death.
bring the people of Israel into intimate, uninterrupted conjunction with Him.

Avoding His Name

The Torah seems to go out of its way in order to avoid calling Moses by name.

Instead, three times he is addressed with the word ve'atah--"and you":

ve'atah te'tzaveh--And you shall command the Children of Israel that they take for you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. In the Tent of Meeting outside the curtain which is before the [Ark of] the Testimony, shall Aaron and his sons arrange it from evening to morning before Hashem, an eternal statute for their generations on behalf of the Children of Israel (Exodus 27:20-21).

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Terumah

Exodus 25:1−27:19

By Rabbi Avraham Fischer; provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox Congregations for MyJewishLearning.com

On The Way To Sanctity

The sanctification process of materials for the Tabernacle and Temple teaches us that everything has the potential to be used for holiness.

The purpose of the Exodus was always more than the liberation of the Hebrew slaves; it was the establishment of a physical existence in which Hashem would reign.

And, at the center of that existence, would be the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the portable sanctuary:

And they shall make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Exodus 25:8). The establishment of the Mishkan will make it possible for Hashem's Presence to dwell in the midst of the people.

Every aspect of the Mishkan teaches us how to serve Hashem.

How to Serve Hashem

The Mishkan would be the result of the collective efforts of the entire nation of Israel. It would be constructed from donations of their possessions and skills, and dedicated to the service of Hashem:

And Hashem spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the Children of Israel that they take for Me (v’yikchu li) a donation; from each man whose heart makes him willing shall you take My donation’ (Exodus 25:1-2).

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Shabbat Shekalim, Mishpatim

Exodus 21:1−24:18


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

Murder And Atheism

In claiming power over human lives, a murderer denies that God alone possesses that power.

"He who smites a man and [the man] dies shall surely be put to death."

A Houston, Texas newspaper published the story of a young Eastern lawyer who complained to an old Texas Judge about the Texas way with crime.

"I don't understand Texas justice," said the lawyer. "You will suspend the sentence of a convicted murderer, but you will hang a horse thief."

The old judge rang a spittoon with a stream of tobacco juice. "Sorry," he replied, "I reckon that's cause we got men that need killin’, but we ain't got no horses that need stealin’."

A Gruesome Crime

Murder is a gruesome crime. From time immemorial, when Cain first murdered his brother Abel, great cynicism has been embedded in the warped minds of those who would kill.

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Yitro

Exodus 18:1–20:23

Preparing To Receive God's Message

Unlike the first tablets, the second tablets, which were hewn by human hands, endured.

By Rabbi Melvin I. Burg, provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox congregations for MyJewishLearning.com
  

"And Moses went up to God." The great event, toward which all of creation moved from the hour of its inception, was about to take place.


The entire universe was hushed and attentive to the sublime drama that was about to unfold in the wilderness of Sinai.

In view of the vivid circumstances surrounding the Divine Revelation, it is most disconcerting that its substance rapidly dissipated. For shortly after Sinai, the Hebrews create a golden calf and Moses, learning of it from atop the mountain, shatters the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. What a magnificent beginning! What an abysmal ending!

Where in lay the difference between the first set of tablets, which were broken, and the second set, which Moses later fashioned and which remained whole? Why were the latter more enduring? Why were they received in sincerity by the Jewish nation?

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