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Essays on the weekly Torah portion, the holidays and Jewish thought.
Parsha Pinchas – Our Ties to the Land of Israel In this week's reading the Torah describes the procedure for the division of the Holy Land to the twelve tribes that were poised… Parsha Pinchas – Return to the Future When we are afforded a glimpse into the future world of holiness and peace, we do not want to act in a manner that is contrary to this new world. When we know that we will be promoted to a higher position, we will start acting and thinking in consonance with that new position even before we reach it Parsha Pinchas – Sun Rise and Sunset A leader is not a magician who with the wave of a magic wand can unite and lead the people. The leader needs the cooperation of his people. All of the people, despite their different interests and levels, must possess, at least, one cause that they share equally. Even if we cannot agree on anything Parsha Pinchas – The Down to Earth Zealot! The true zealot is one who is able to transcend his own nature. The true zealot must be able to control his passion for the spiritual, climb down from his celestial perch and deal with lowly affairs and even use tactics that are totally against his nature. Parsha Pinchas – The Instigators Moshiach is a human being. What makes him different is that he is the ultimate “instigator.” He will inspire and provoke us into realizing our own G-d given potential for good. Moshiach will unleash the hidden potential for good in the entire world. Parsha Pinchas – The Theory of Quantity Qualified Everyone possesses the potential for the highest quality. When we have the critical mass of positive energy, it represents the force that can fan the little flame into a blazing fire. Quantity generates quality. The ultimate force is the synthesis of the two. Parsha Pinchas – The Ultimate Tzedakah We were promised that Moshiach will redeem us regardless of our worthiness. But, who wants to be the undeserving recipient of a tzedakah hand out? We want Redemption to occur because of our efforts, not in spite of them. Parsha Pinchas – Tolerate or Follow? The ability of a leader to “follow the spirit of each individual” derives from the fact that he is endowed with the spirit of each individual. His ability to identify with each person is because he has a “piece” of each person in his own soul. Parsha Pinchas – Verbal Bribery The Lubavitcher Rebbe has constantly stressed, our role is to reverse the process of destruction by transforming the senseless hatred into “senseless love.” This means that we should become so favorably biased about each other that we can no longer harbor any feelings of negative judgment Parsha Pinchas – Will the Real Pinchas Stand Up!? The positive values of Judaism is what will eventually endure, while the fight against the negative will eventually cease with the advent of the Moshiach and the final redemption, at which time the “swords will be converted into plowshares.” Parsha Balak – Covert Operations There are two dimensions of good: The good that is overt and easily accessed and the dimension of good that is covert and is hard to access. G-d, in His infinite kindness, has allowed us to access both forms of good. We will fully experience that in the Messianic Age Parsha Balak – Curses and Blessings Transforming curses into blessings is the ultimate expression of G-d’s true unity because it proves that not even the evil has any power of its own, but to serve G-d’s purpose in creation. And therefore, ultimately, even the curses will be transformed into blessings. Parsha Balak – Honey or a Sting? The phenomenon of identifying with our enemies when we receive some measure of good from them is a well-known psychological phenomenon known as the “Stockholm Syndrome.” When a Jew identifies with and pays homage to exile forces (or in the language of this week’s parsha, “Bilam’s honey”), he digs hi Parsha Balak – Moshiach If one evil person was able to galvanize a nation of tens of millions to carry out the worst genocide in history, how much more so, is the same possible in the realm of goodness. One person can unleash the positive energy lying dormant in humanity. Parsha Balak – No Paragraphs We have become a society in which everything has to be analyzed. There are times when we should allow positive statements of people to remain the way they are on the surface without probing for some hidden agenda. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Frequently, the superficial begins to seep in an Parsha Balak – Just for Now Earth shattering events are indeed very appealing to us. But, even the most insignificant act can forever change the world. We cannot fathom the ripple and snowballing effect all the good that we do has on the world. Parsha Balak – Misplaced Spirituality Our quest for Moshiach—the descendent of Moab—is for the Moshiach who will, in Maimonides’ words, facilitate total Torah observance. To the extent that our messianic fervor takes us in that direction it is the fulfillment of Judaism’s directive that we “anticipate (and prepare for) Moshiach’s coming Parsha Balak – Removing the Bilam Curse of Galus Bilam suffered from two impediments. He was lame and partially blind. He lacked healthy spiritual legs i.e. faith. Bilams spirituality was based on his limited understanding of G-d’s existence. Bilam’s was also spiritually blind; blind to his own state of lowliness. We defeat the Bilams of the world Parsha Balak – Singular Blessing Prayer is complemented by Torah study. If prayer is the story of our relationship with G-d then Torah study is where G-d shares His most intimate thoughts with us. This expresses dramatically His love for us because He allows us to learn and absorb His most intimate knowledge. While prayer expresses Parsha Balak – Substance, Profit and Hope To counter the power of the modern day Bila’ams who attempt to distance us from the Messianic Age we must connect ourselves to the three elements: mamosh- substance, benefit and hope. We must realize that Moshiach and Redemption are reality. We must also recognize that our actions benefit the world.