Eretz Yisrael in the Torah is intended to increase every Jew’s appreciation of the gift of Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish people. Every parsha in the Torah contains reference to Israel and our responsibilities toward this Holy Land. Eretz Yisrael in the Torah will highlight one possuk every week and will share a corresponding thought for you to consider and to share with others. We hope it will give chizzuk to those who live in Eretz Yisrael and will inspire those who have not yet come home.
TRUE HAPPINESS A recurring theme in this week’s parashah is simcha – happiness. In the opening section, which deals with bikurim (first fruits), the Torah states, – You shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord, your God, has given you and your household (26:11). In the next section, dealing with Vidui Ma’asrot (Confession…
THE LEAP OF FAITH One of the many mitzvot enumerated in this week’s parashah is the prohibition of causing a fellow Jew to take interest (ribit) – i.e., borrowing money on interest. (The prohibition of lending on interest is stated in Shemot 22:24 and VaYikra 25:35-38.) However, the Torah explicitly permits a Jew to give…
PERMANENT PROPERTY You shall not move your fellow man’s boundary, which the earlier ones established, in your inheritance that you shall inherit, in the Land that the Lord, your God, gives you to possess it. (19:14) The Midrash (Sifrei) comments: What does this verse teach us? Does [the Torah] not already state, You shall not…
ME OR WE – THAT IS THE QUESTION כי יכרית ה’ אלוקיך את הגויים אשר אתה בא שמה לרשת אותם מפניך, וירשת אותם וישבת בארצם (יב:כט) When the Lord your God will cut down the nations, which you come to drive them out from before you, you shall drive them out and dwell in…
PRACTICE MAKES IMPERFECT Twice a day we recite the second paragraph of Kri’at Shema, taken from this week’s parashah. By the age of twenty, we have said it well over 10,000 times! If we have paid any attention to what we’ve been saying, we know that it talks about the blessings we will receive if…
PRINCES BELONG IN THE PALACE I entreated the Lord at that time, saying: “O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand… Please let me cross over and see the good Land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain and the Lebanon.” (3:23-25)…
TO BE CLOSE TO HASHEM One of the things Moshe said to B’nei Yisrael when he rebuked them for the Sin of the Spies was: – You murmured in your tents and said, “Because the Lord hates us He took us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hands of the…
LET’S GET OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT The Children of Reuven and the Children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock… They said to Moshe and Elazar… Let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not bring us across the Jordan. (32:1-5) Moshe Rabbeinu’s reaction to this request was rather harsh. …
WHAT’S THE CONNECTION? Many parts of this week’s parashah are directly or indirectly connected to the Holy Land. Immediately after concluding the story of Pinchas (including the order to take revenge against the Midianites for their share in the deaths of 24,000 Jews), HaShem commands Moshe and Elazar to count the Children of Israel. What…
TEMPORARY TENTS OR PERMANENT DWELLINGS מה טובו אוהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל (במדבר כד:ה) How goodly are your tents, O Ya’akov, your dwelling places, O Yisrael (24:5). What exactly are “the tents of Ya’akov” and “the dwelling places (משכנות) of Yisrael”? Many answers have been given to this question. Rashi (based on Chazal) explains that they…