Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on August 2, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
this parsha is aptly titled mase’ei meaning the travels of bnei yisrael. and the Torah spares no expense to list every place from which they set out and made camp along the way. in fact, the word ויסעו, meaning “they set out,” is written 42 times. each time, this word is shortly followed by the Continue Reading »
Posted on July 23, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
moshe has come a long way from his days of “כבד פה וכבד לשון, slow of speech, slow of tongue” (shmot 4:10). he has not only transformed bnei yisrael from a stiff-necked, fickle bunch of wanderers into a God-loving, jewish people, but he himself has undergone a tremendous transformation. in the course of his adventures Continue Reading »
Posted on July 14, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parsha, after yet another plague in which an empassioned God wipes out large numbers of israelities, 24,000 to be exact, God tells moshe to take another census of the jewish people. the last census was back in the beginning of parshat bamidbar, where we reached a grand total of 603,550 israelites. and Continue Reading »
Posted on July 7, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
this week’s parsha strangely focus on the story of one non-israelite, balaam the diviner, and his journey of how he came to know and understand God. okay, let’s back up a little bit. there’s a bad guy in this story, balak, head of the amorites, who summons our diviner-friend balaam to curse the jewish Continue Reading »
Posted on June 30, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
this parsha is one that sits heavy with death. for one thing, early on, we get the description of what to do when one comes in contact with a dead body. and then, as if the Torah was simply giving us the procedure in order to prepare us for what’s to come, we learn of Continue Reading »
Posted on June 21, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parsha, there is a fair amount of death. entire families are swallowed up by the earth. a raging fire consumes two hundred and fifty men. an infectious plague spreads wildly and kills fourteen thousand and seven hundred people. this is the price for challenging authority. these deaths are all in retaliation for Continue Reading »
Posted on June 17, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
once again the israelites take to complaining, railing against God, moshe, and anyone else who will listen regarding their miserable fate in the desert. last week, it was bitter cries about the camp food, longing for the nostalgized days of the meat and fish galore in egypt. this week, it’s fears that the people will Continue Reading »
Posted on June 8, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
this week, God instructs moshe to put into place a sound system in order to summon the community and gather the troops. with two different trumpets at their disposal, God establishes a morse code used for relaying information. two trumpets/long blast: everyone gather around. one trumpet/long blast: just the chiefs. one set of short blasts: Continue Reading »
Posted on June 3, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
well, the good news is, she survived the ritual ordeal of the housewife gone astray. the bad news is, well, where do we go from here? parshat naso describes in detail the disturbing process of how a husband, suspecting his wife of infelidity or overcome by jealousy may bring his wife to trial. and, this Continue Reading »
Posted on May 29, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
i’m a bit embarrassed to say i’ve noticed an unsettling theme in my dvrei torah. i’m drawn to the characters and the storylines in which the israelities, moshe, aharon, whomever, is called upon to do the work of God and it just seems like its too much for them. it’s too scary, too dangerous, or Continue Reading »
