Author: moshe

Parshiyot Behar/Bechukotai 5770: Shabbos, Shemittoh, Eretz Yisrael and Denial by Rulers Lacking Torah

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by Moshe Burt

Parshiyot Behar and Bechukotai are another of a number of power-packed doubleheaders, this one emphasizing the connection between the Jew and Eretz Yisrael.

Our Parshiyot parallel the laws of Shabbos with Shemittoh. And so, six days you shall work and you shall rest, refrain from all manner of avodah on the seventh day… to keep it Holy, just as in emulation of Hashem’s creation of the universe. When the laws of Shabbos are paralleled with the laws of Shemittoh: ‘I will command My blessing during the sixth year and it will provide produce for three years’, we are able to understand the Hatam Sofer’s explanation; read more

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A Kohen’s Take: The Likud Central Committee Vote and Jerusalem

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Commentary:

As this week’s Parshat HaShevua is Parsha Emor, it seems appropriate apply precepts which I have derived from our Parsha to our collective current malaise:

The function of the Kohen in relationship to his fellow Jews is meant to be the paradigm of how the Jews are meant to relate to the nations as a light unto the world. The point is that the Kohanim are meant to be a paradigm, to set an example for all of B’nai Yisrael regarding derech, midos, chessed to one’s brothers — one’s fellow Jews, and of Avodat Hashem. read more

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The Secret US-Israeli Agreement on East Jerusalem

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Bibi’s infamous Yes vote for the expulsion of our Gush Katif brethren.

This blog has closely observed prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public reactions to the tirades of US president Obama and secretary of state Clinton in the aftermath of licensure for building in Ramat Shlomo. Among Netanyahu’s public statements have been declarations that construction in Jerusalem will continue and that Jerusalem will remain undivided .

But inside Israel, and inside the prime minister’s own party, people have been questioning whether Netanyahu can be taken at his word, particularly in light of the Likud central committee vote coming on Thursday regarding whether or not the Likud constitution will be changed as to scheduling when central committee elections will be held. The make-up of the Likud central committee appears to have a profound impact on the prime minister’s diplomatic policy decisions. read more

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Parsha Emor 5770: The Kohanic Paradigm of Purity, Unity vs the Forces of Defilement

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by Moshe Burt

The positioning in Torah of our Parsha Emor, following last week’s Parsha Kedoshim gives rise to thought and contemplation.

In the previous 2 twin Parshas; Acharei Mos and Kedoshim, and Tazria and Metzora before them, we learn about the Kohen as the only one Divinely invested with ruling as to Tumah or Ta’Hara regarding ones’ skin, hair, clothing or homes as well as with being the vehicle for Yom Kippur avodah in the Kadosh Kedoshim and as the model of Darchim for the entire B’nai Yisrael to ideally emulate as a model for all mankind. read more

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Parsha Acharei Mos/Kedoshim 5770: The Kohen – Paradigm for the Jews, as Light for Mankind

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by Moshe Burt

Our twin Parshiyot; Acharei Mos and Kedoshim are what baseball fans refer to as another of the “doubleheader” parshas. And just as Parshiyot Tazria and Metzora are extensions of each other, visa vi Tumah and Ta’Hara regarding post-birth, regarding skin, hair, clothing or regarding one’s home or building; Acharei Mos and Kedoshim are extensions of each other regarding Kohanim, Yom Kippur, the Kohen’s Yom Kippur avodah in the Kadosh Kedoshim and the Kohanic model of Darchim, which ideally the entire B’nai Yisrael would embrace and exhibit as a model for all mankind. read more

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Parshiyot Tazria/Metzora 5770: Ta’amei/Tahara on a Contemporary National Level

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by Moshe Burt

In learning about the laws of tzara’as, we find posukim which are a pelah, a wonderment.

Torah relates in our Parsha;
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“If the tzara’as will erupt on the skin, and … will cover the entire skin of the afflicted from his head to his feet, wherever the eyes of the Kohen can see — the Kohen shall look, and behold! — the affliction has covered his entire flesh, then he shall declare the affliction to be pure; having turned completely white, it is pure. On the day healthy skin appears …, it (the affliction) shall be contaminated.” (Sefer Vayikra, Perek 13, posukim 12 – 14) read more

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Parsha Shemini 5770 –Kosher, Treif and Gauging the Sincerity of a Jew’s Service

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By Moshe Burt

After learning in Parsha Tzav that for seven days, Moshe taught Aaron HaKohen and his sons the laws of their Avodah (the Kohanic Service, i.e. in the Tabernacle and later in the Beit HaMikdash — ” The Temple”) in the Mishkan, our Parsha Shemini begins by relating that on the eighth day, Aaron and his sons commenced their Avodah HaKodosh (Holy Service). And it is interesting and ironic that our parsha is the other side of the term; “Tzav-Shemonah” which is the document or order issued by the Israel Defense Forces calling reservists to active duty in event of war. read more

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Pesach 5770: Feeling the Hebrew Mindset of Mitzrayim

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by Moshe Burt

Our Rabbanim inform us that for the Pesach Seder to have meaning, beyond the external, superficial or by-rote ritual, we have to feel ourselves as if in Mitzrayim; the oppression, the being put upon, the slave labor and persecution soo overpowering and all-pervasive that we lose the will and the capability of verbally communication; what Shem Mishmuel (Shem Mishmuel p. 225) calls the “blocked channel between speech and nefesh.”

Before a previous Pesach, this author addressed the personal framing of Yetzi’at Mitzrayim in historical terms and relating to the blanks regarding family life — parent-child relations, education, shidduchim, etc. read more

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Parsha Tzav 5770: Jewish Constancy or Rote and Complacency?

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by Moshe Burt

In our Parsha, Tzav is Moshe’s command from Hashem to Aaron HaKohen and his sons to take up and clothe themselves in their Vestments, their garments of service in the Mishkan, and to begin their daily Avodah (service and offerings in the Mishkan).

For seven days, Moshe taught Aaron HaKohen and his sons the laws of their Avodah in the Mishkan. (You might say that they were given, as they term it in the US, OJT from Shemayim.) On the eighth day, Aaron and his sons began their Avodah. read more

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Dayenu 5770: The Korban Pesach; Its Modern-Day Versions?

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by Moshe Burt

This year will mark fifteen years, and my twelfth Pesach in Eretz Yisrael, in which I have emailed, as it has become tradition with me from prior to my Aliyah, the rendition of Dayenu quoted from the book “Dear Brothers.” In each year, Dayenu holds a unique perspective, unlike the perspective of any previous year.

You may note that much of the text is repetition. But if you take the time to read this post, this year and every year, you will see that which this author sees as factors in the state of B’nai Yisrael — right here and right now. read more

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