Female LessonParashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test YourselfShorts AreaOur Sedra records Moshe describing himself as having "sealed (‘uncircumcised’) lips." Earlier, he had said he was "heavy of mouth, heavy of tongue." We know the famous Medrash that the angel Gavriel moved baby Moshe’s hand to grab a glowing coal, after which he put his hand in his mouth, burning it. But what was the exact nature of his defect? There are many possibilities: He stuttered; he talked with a lisp; he could not pronounce certain letters that used either the tongue (e.g. lamed, tav) or the lips (e.g. pey, mem). Others say he had forgotten his Egyptian during the 80 years he spent in Midian, & so couldn’t properly address Paro. Or perhaps it was his Hebrew that was deficient , since he was raised in Paro’s palace and may have been more comfortable in Egyptian than Hebrew (many sources say Moshe was ordered by Hashem to use only Lashon HaKodesh, the Holy Language, when dealing with Pharoah). Thus he said, "If the Israelites don’t understand (my Hebrew), then how will Paro? Or perhaps he spoke too fast, or he was not glib (i.e. he was "tongue-tied). While by the end of the Torah, Moshe has indeed become a great orator, this may teach us that public speaking is not necessarily the #1 prerequisite for being a great leader!
Many have attempted to solve the question, what is THE difference which can find the common denominator between all 31 differences between the 2 versions of the Ten Commandment? This innovative article suggests that our sages already answered this with one sentence in a well-known Midrash, just most never noticed that seemingly innocent sentence. It deals with the basic difference between the masculine side of the Torah and the feminine.
Rav Kook makes some very interesting "diyukim" (deductions) from this passage in the Talmud about when to wash or moisterize (with oil) right before left, and regarding anointing one's entire body, and relates to small "timely" fixings, as opposed to general improvement.
"FREEDOM CAME WITH A FLAG”- The First Flag of Israel
The Ramban explains that the exodus from Egypt was led by the first flag of Israel. This short article brings many unknown historic and halachic proofs of the importance of the Israeli flag.
Rav Kook makes some very interesting "diyukim" (deductions) from this passage in the Talmud about when to wash or moisterize (with oil) right before left, and regarding anointing one's entire body, and relates to small "timely" fixings, as opposed to general improvement.