Shows / Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Episodes
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Freedom Has Limitations
Passover is the holiday of Jewish freedom, yet we have very strict limitations on what we can eat. This is to teach us that freedom has limitations.
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Questions, A Sign of Freedom
We are encouraged to ask questions at the Seder. The reason is that this is a sign of being a free people.
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Four Sons as Four Generations
When we look at the 4 sons as 4 generations, we get a deeper understanding what the Hagadah is point out. How the wise son leads to the wicked, who leads to…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Four Sons & Their Questions
The questions asked by the four sons reflect how we handle them. The wise son needs to be reminded that the Seder is to be experienced. The wicked son needs to…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Prepare For the Worse, Pray For The Best
We rely on God's protection, but we have to remember that first we have to prepare for the worse. Without God's protection, we would have been destroyed long…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Real Jewish New Year
We call the 1st of Tishri the "Jewish New Year". This is wrong. The 1st of Tishri is when man was created. It is the beginning of the world. The Jewish New…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Price Of Leadership
The Torah says that when a leader sin. It assumes that the leader will make a mistake. It is the nature of the position. He then has to bring a sin offering to…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Humility In Leadership
Moses was the humblest of men. This might sound strange but if you asked him, he would have said that he did what had to be done. That he just happened to be…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
No One Is Indipensible
That Moses's name does not appear in this week's portion of the Torah is important in that it shows that no one is indispensable. We can all be replaced. This…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Do Not Be A Victim
Teruma teaches us to prepare to build the Tabernacle for a better life. The month of Adar teaches us to be happy and that we are not victims no matter what…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Bringing God To This World
God commands us to build Him a home so that He can dwell among us. What God really wants is for us to have a just society. That we treat each other with…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
A Partnership With God
The reason that God wants us to help in the building of the Tabernacle is to show us that this is a partnership with God. That our job is to bring God down to…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Equality Before The Law
The key to a just society is that the judges follow the law. That they do not favor either the wealthy or the poor. All are equal before the law and cases can…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Law Is Supreme
That we get societal laws right after the revelation at Mt. Sinai teaches us that the spiritual laws are important but is our society is unjust then the…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
We Cannot Sin In God's Name
The Third Commandment states that we cannot take God's name in vain. This means that we cannot commit a sin in God's name. That we can do the right thing for…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Don't Worship Your Ideology
The Second Commandment is against idolatry. This does not just mean worshiping statues but ideology. We have to be careful not to allow our politics, or even…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Rules For Leadership
Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, arrives and sizes up the situation. He sees that Moses has taken a lot on himself. He gives some constructive criticism for…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
There Is No Nogotiating With Amalek
The week's portion ends with the attack of Amalek. Amalek has no reason to attack the Jews. Just pure hatred. And they attack the weakest in society. That is…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
No One Is Left Behind, No One Is Forgotten
The final act of Moses in Egypt was to retrieve Joseph's bones. This is because we do not leave anyone behind and we do not forget anyone. We take care of all…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Pharaoh's Mistake
Why did Pharaoh assume that the Jews would return after their festival? That is because he misunderstood that when Moses said that the Jews had to go out to…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
When Failure Is Not An Option
The story of the crossing the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) is the story of the Jewish people. We have to realize that in order to succeed we have to try. If we do…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Importance of a National Memory
More important than God taking the Jews out of Egypt is why. And that the next generation know this. If they will not be taught, then they will make up reasons…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
A Society Built on Lies
The entire social structure of Egypt was built on lies. What the plagues did was to strip away all the lies. Egypt was destroyed. The Jews were building on the…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
True Birth of a Nation
The Pascal sacrifice in Egypt was to teach the Jews that they were no longer under Egyptian rule, just as it was to teach the Egyptians that their entire…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
From Spiritual Darkness to Spiritual Light
The ninth plague was to teach both the Jews and the Egyptians that idolatry is darkness while the Torah is light. When we stray from the Torah we enter into…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Freedom Means Bring Responsible
The first commandment that the Jewish people received as a people was to declare the new month. Keeping time connotes freedom. We are now responsible for…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Standing Up for What's Right
When Moses began his mission, he and his brother were alone. By the end they were the natural leaders and Egypt was destroyed. The were standing for the right…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings
Just as dictators will try to keep their narrative, the true believers in them will make every excuse why the system isn't working as it should. It is harder…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Destroying A False Narrative
Pharaoh built up a false narrative that he was a god. The plagues slowly destroyed that narrative. There is nothing worse for a dictator than to have his lies…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Know Before Whom You Stand
The real problem that Moses had in Egypt was to rally the Jews to his side. Moses had to deal with a people who were suffering. They did not want to hear it if…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
God's Judgement on Egypt
The plagues in Egypt were designed to destroy the entirety of Egyptian society. It was God's judgement that that society was evil and had to be uprooted.
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Importance of Names
One of the issues of dealing with Pharaoh is that he refuses to allow the Jews to define who they are. The issue is that only the Jews get to define who we…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Have Faith In God's Plan
When Moses starts to redeem the Jews, he is facing the problem that they have given up hope. He has to get them to understand that they will be redeemed. This…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
No Egos Leads To Redemption
Aaron was happy that Moses was chosen to lead the Jews to freedom. This is a major shift from the Book of Genesis where sibling rivalry is the norm.
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Leadership Lessons From The Torah
It is very clear that Moses did not want the job of leadership. This is the basic reason that he was chosen for the job.
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
A Reluctant Leader
When Moses came across the Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he looked up & down & did not see a man. He saw other people, but he did not see anyone who would…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Fear God, Not Man
Pharaoh gives the order to kill all Jewish male babies born. The midwives ignore it. This was the beginning of the redemption. That the midwives feared God…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Remembering Our History, Warts and All
The Book of Exodus begins with the statement that there was a new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. Basically, he was denying Egyptian history. This is what…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Jew Hatred Is Not New
As we begin the Book of Exodus, we meet an anti-Semite with power. He believes that the Jews are powerful and will take over Egypt. That there is no evidence…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
A Leader Sets The Morality of the Nation
David stresses to his son, Solomon, that leadership is not a right, it is a duty. That a leader has to set a moral example for the nation.
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Secret Of Jewish Survival
Ephriam and Menashe were the first Jews who grew up in the Exile and had to deal with the Egyptian culture. Joseph made sure that they had a solid Jewish…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Leadership Is Earned, Not Given
One of the interesting things to remember is that leadership in the Bible does not necessarily go to the first born. Yehuda is the 4th son, yet he is the…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Why We Lost The Temple
Today is the anniversary of when the Babylonians laid siege on Jerusalem, meaning the beginning of the end of the First Temple. We are reminded that this…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
What Washington Learned From Jacob
George Washington was inaugurated in New York on a opened to Genesis 49. When Jacob blessed his sons. His idea was, just as Jacob had 12 sons, each with his…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Protecting The Image Of God
The story of Chanukah is that the Jews refused to be "modern". They obeyed God's commandments. They view all people as being in the image of God. The Greeks…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
United We Stand With God
The Torah informs us that Joseph's goal was to see if his brothers would behave toward Benjamin the way they behaved toward him. When he saw that they would…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Be Proud Of Who You Are
In this week's Torah portion Joseph is raised from the prison to be the viceroy of Egypt. At no time does he deny is Judaism. That is the lesson that we should…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Praise The Lord & Pass The Ammunition
Joseph asks the cup bearer to remember him to Pharaoh. The cup bearer forgets about him. This teaches us that, while we have to make all preparations to…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Evil Tries To Justify Itself
Just as Potiphar's wife accused Joseph of the crime she wanted to commit, so too, with our enemies, they accuse us of the crimes they want to commit against us.
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Water Or Snakes & Scorpions
The Torah states that the pit that Joseph was thrown into had no water. The Midrash states that it had snakes & Scorpions. This teaches us that without Torah…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
A Leader Has To Be Humble
Yehuda had to learn humility before he could become the leader of the family. This happens when he is confronted by Tamar & admits that he is the father of her…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
A Merit Based Society
It is interesting to note that throughout Jewish history, our leaders were not the first born. They were individuals who earned their roles as leaders. That is…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Do Not Show Favortism
Jacob's favoritism towards Joseph sets off a chain of events. The other brothers are jealous of Joseph and plot against him. This is a strong lesson to parents…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Rachel's Place
According to the Ari (Rabbi Yitzhak Luria) Rachel is not buried in Rachel's Tomb. But because so many people have prayed there over the centuries her spirit…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Fences Make Good Neighbors
When Esau and Jacob meet after many years, Esau invites Jacob to be with him. Jacob does not. He knows that Esau is bad and will be detrimental to his family…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Struggling With God & Yourself
The struggle depicted in the portion of the week is symbolic of the struggle we have with God and ourselves. We should try to be spiritual, but we cannot…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Not Revenge, But Justice
The reason that Jacob was upset at the actions of Shimon & Levi was that he felt that they acted outside the law. He was against vigilante justice. He felt…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Importance of A Good Wife
When Jacob had his meeting with Esau, he hid his daughter Dina for fear that Esau would want her. According to the midrash, she was supposed to be Esau's wife…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
Do Not Fool Yourself
One of the problems that we face is that we think everyone is like us. When we run into someone who doesn't we are shocked. Esau made clear his intentions. Our…
- Shlomo's Thoughts On The Torah
The Ends Do Not Justify The Means
When Lavan accuses Jacob of stealing his idols, Jacob not only says that he did not but cursed anyone who did. He did not realize that Rachel had stolen them…