Parashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test YourselfOur sedra of Chukat is so named because it includes the ritual of the Para Aduma, which is considered the "chok par excellence." This same compound renders other people tahor while at the same time making the administering Kohen tamei; even Shlomo - the wisest of all people – could not understand it. (Why would any dead animal make someone ritually pure?!). A chok is a law for which the meaning is not readily understood. Every law – chukim, too – has a reason; we just don’t always know what that reason is (see Yuma 67b). Interestingly, the Mitzva of Kibud Av V’Aym is considered by some (e.g. Rav Yosef Engel) to be a chok! The most well-known chukim are Tzitzit & the laws of Kashrut, though numerous m’farshim nevertheless offer a rationale for these Mitzvot. In many ways, the chukim are actually the most important mitzvot, because we perform these purely out of faith & allegiance to Hashem, rather than because they make sense to us, like mishpatim, civil laws
Can we play darts on Shabbat? The darts are classic ones that pierce the board’s surface; the board hangs loosely from a nail in the wall; in between uses, the darts often stay on the boar
Just as water has the ability to convert desolate and nonproductive desert land into a veritable Garden of Eden, so too can Torah fill the void in our hearts and souls and make us productive holy people.
A person must maintain total integrity in all his dealings – after all, we are
commanded to act like Hashem in all our deeds, and Hashem’s seal is truth (Shabbos
55a). Furthermore, someone who is meticulously honest and truthful will merit
receiving the Presence of the Shechinah.