Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah
av Shlomo Bar-Ayal
Senaste avsnittet
Abraham's Legacy To Us
Abraham's Legacy To Us
Om den här podden
After morning prayers Shlomo Bar-Ayal gives a daily, brief, one to three minute talk on the Portion of the week.
Avsnitt
De 50 senaste av 928 avsnitt
- Abraham's Legacy To Us · 4 minAbraham bought the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Jacob boughtShchem. And David bought Jerusalem. We inherited these from them. It is part oftheir legacy.
- The Secret To A Happy Marriage · 5 minThe Torah states that Isaac first married Rebecca and then he loved her. It is emphasizing that love should grow between a man and his wife. This happens when you recognize that…
- Choosing Character Above All · 5 minWhen choosing a wife for Yitzhok, Eliezer, Abrham's servant looks for character, or not beauty nor wealth. He finds that Rivka has these qualities.
- Loving Kindness Needs Limits · 5 minSarah demands that Abraham send Ishmael and Hagar awaybecause she sees in Ishmael a danger to the family. He is doing things that areagainst everything that Abraham and Sarah…
- How To Improve The World · 4 minOne of the most important lessons from this week's Parsha is that in order to improve the world we must first improve ourselves.
- Why We Do The Mitzvot · 5 minIt is very clear that from the outset of the Parsha that the reason we are called upon to keep the commandments is that it is for our sake.
- Your Neighbors Will Affect You · 5 minWhen Abraham and Lot separated Lot chose to live in Sodomdue to it being a place of wealth. He thought that the evil people there would not affect him. He was wrong. This is a…
- Without Hope There Is No Future · 5 minGod makes a promise to Abraham that he will be theprogenitor of a great nation. But before they can become a nation they will have to suffer 400 years of slavery. This was to…
- Going Against The Evil In The Worlds · 5 minAbraham was called the "Ivri" which means"from the other side" because he stood up in a world of lies and told the truth. Much like today Israel stand up for truth in a world of…
- We Obey God For Our Sake · 6 minWhen God commands Abraham to leave Ur Kasdim He says that Abraham should go for his sake. God does not need us to obey the commandments. We need the commandments.
- Righteousness For All Time · 4 minThe differences between Noah and Abraham are important because this explains why Abraham was chosen to bring ethical monotheism to the world while Noah was not.
- Our Covenant With God · 6 minIn this week's portion we have the recreation of the worldthrough the family of Noat. This time God makes a covenant with Noah and we getthe seven commandments of the Children of…
- The Sin of The Tower of Babel · 4 minThe sin of the Tower of Babel was that is was a totalitariangovernment. There is no freedom of thought in such a society. God wants us to disagree and debate that way we will…
- Corruption Destroys Trust · 5 minThe reason the Torah gives for the flood was that society was corrupt. They had no respect for private property. When that happens then society will collapse.
- Why The Torah Relates the Flood Story · 5 minThe lesson of the flood story in the Torah is why God brought the flood. It was due to the immorality of man. The God of the Torah is not fickle. He acts for a reason.
- Back To Normal Life · 4 minAfter the month of Tishrei comes another test. Will we dowhat is right even though there is nothing special for a month? The month ofCheshvon has nothing special. No holidays of…
- The Torah Belongs To All · 4 minWe do not have lectures on Simhat Torah because the Torahbelongs to all Jews. If we were to have speeches, then there would be some whowould disagree and others would feel left…
- Jonah, Sukkot and Repentance · 6 minSukkot is the holiday, not only for Jews but for the world.That is why we invite all to our sukkot. And we conclude the holiday season bydancing with the Torah not only in our…
- No One Is Indispensible · 5 minMoses had to face the fact that he would not be leading the Jewish people into the Land of Israel. He had lead them for 40 years and brought them to the land but he had to turn…
- Look To Success, Not Failure · 3 minOn Yom Kippur we concentrate on our failures. But that is not how we should live. God wants us to be happy. He wants us to be positive. That is why the happy holiday of Sukkot…
- Be Like Aaron, Be A Peacemaker · 4 minAs we get ready for Yom Kippur we have to remember that our goal is to bring peace with our neighbors. We should strive to be like Aaron and bring peace.
- The Meaning of The Fast of Gedalia · 7 minWe fast in memory of the disaster of Jew against Jew violence. It always leads to disaster.
- Looking Back To Move Forward · 5 minOn Rosh Hashana we look back at our actions over the previous year to see how we can improve ourselves and decide to be better.
- Preparing For Rosh Hashana · 4 minWe blow the Shofar throughout the month of Elul to wake us up so that we can correct our mistakes from last year. This is preparing for Rosh Hashana.
- Humans Are Responsible For Their Actions · 5 minWhile Nisan is the beginning of the Jewish people, Tishei reminds us that we are responsible for our actions as a free people.
- God Will Help You If You Try · 4 minOne of the most important lessons of the Torah is that we have to make an effort and God will then help us. That said, we should never say that God did not have a hand in our…
- Learning To Be Ethical & Moral · 4 minMoses's final message to the Jewish people is that they have to maintain the standard of morality that they achieved in the wilderness.
- Leaders Come and Go But The Torah Is Eternal · 5 minThe central message of this week's portion is that leaders come and go but the institutions of the Torah are eternal,
- What Makes Israel Special · 5 minWhen we are called the Chosen people, it means that God chose us to show the world how a moral and ethical society behaves. We are not superior to others.
- How To Avoid Amalek · 5 minThe commandment to keep accurate weights and measures in business comes before the commandment to destroy Amalek. The meaning is simple. Unethical business practices will destroy…
- Treat Adults As Adults · 5 minThe Torah commands us to treat people as adults. That, as adults, we are responsible for our actions. We treat children as children until they reach adulthood.
- Overcoming Our Fate Through The Torah · 5 minIn this week's portion Moses gives his last speech to the Jews. This is the last day of his life and he wants to stress that their fate is in their hands. That we are not fated…
- Serving God With Joy · 5 minGod wants us to serve Him with joy. That we can show the world what true service to God is. That we serve God, not only in prayer but in how we treat each other and that we treat…
- Remembering To Be Grateful · 4 minBeing grateful to God is one of the hardest things to do when we are successful. That is why there is a special commandment in the Torah to remind us of this.
- We Are Responsible For Our Own Actions · 6 minWe are admonished not to punish the fathers for the sins of the sons and not to punish the sons for the sins of the father. This is a fundamental principal in the Torah. God gave…
- Learn to Subdue Your Passions · 4 minWhen we marry for the wrong reasons the end result is anger. Physical beauty will disappear, but their inner beauty will last.
- Preparing For Judgement · 6 minWe start to blow the shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul. This is to awaken Within us that we will be judged on Rosh Hashana. We should start doing a personal accounting for our action…
- We Are Our Own Judges · 4 minThe operative verse in this week's portion stresses the words "to you". This is to teach that the most important judge we have is ourselves. Then the family unit. All society if…
- The Reason For The Cities Of Refuge · 6 minThe cities of refuge were set up so that someone who committed an accidental killing would be safe. He was being punished for the death of another but it was not murder.
- Avoid Bias, Judge The Facts · 5 minThe Torah admonishes judges to judge the facts before them. It is known that in many countries where the courts are perceived to be biased fall apart for that very reason.
- Keep What's Real, Destroy Falsehood · 5 minWe are commanded to destroy all forms of idolatry but must keep anything with God's name on it. This is because idolatry is inherently false and will lead people astray, while…
- Everyone Has Moral Responsibility · 5 minThe use of the singular verb to begin the Parsha shows that we are all morally responsible for our actions. The use of the plural "to you" shows that as individuals we are a…
- We have A Communal Responsibility · 4 minThe second paragraph of the Shema emphasizes that we have a communal responsibility to help. It is not enough that we are personally spiritual but that we are communally spiritual.
- Unity Is Our Strength · 5 minIt is no accident that July 4, 1776 fell on the 17th of Tamuz that year. It shows that the unity of purpose and the unity of the people in instituting a workable government was…
- The Torah Makes Us A Nation · 4 minThe Jewish people are a nation based on the Torah, much like the US is a nation based on the Constitution. We might criticize our government, leaders and fellow citizens but we…
- Be Nice But Don't Be A Fool · 5 minWe have to remember that, while we value all people, we do not value all ideas. There are some ideas that cannot be justified.
- Save Your Hate For Someone Derserving of It · 3 minWhile we should not have baseless hatred towards one another, we should stand up for what is right and hate evil and evil doers.
- Your Home Is Your Castle · 5 minIn this week's portion we get to the division of the Land of Israel among the tribes. That within each tribe they divided the land among the families. The Torah is emphasizing…
- Preparing To Enter The Land Of Israel · 6 minAs we end the Book of Numbers we are preparing to enter the Land of Israel. Up until now God took care of our every need. Now it is time for us to show God that we are able to…
