The Mishkan

The Divine hand

All of life is a mystery and certainly the Jewish story remains in its base an inexplicable one.

Accounting Practices

Most people view it as bordering on boring. Nevertheless, there is no commercial enterprise that can successfully exist without good and accurate accounting practices.

More Than the Jews Have Preserved Shabbat...

There is, perhaps, no more striking a mark of absolute Jewish identity that exists in our society than that of observing, sanctifying, and enjoying the Sabbath day.

A Mysteries Sin

The sin of the Golden Calf remains one of the great mysteries in the story of the Jewish people throughout the ages.

Preperations

Why does the Torah write in detail about making the oil for the Menorah whilst the main purpose is the flame that is litten?

Be A Taker

The taker who asks for the money is really the one that was doing the ultimate favor for the giver who is writing the check.

Living by Torah

The Torah presents us with great moral principles and a profoundly unique value system. These are meant to propel us through life and make us feel that we are members of a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Shining Miracles

When there is a multiplicity of miracles occurring all at the same time, like the candle lit in a room with floodlights, its brightness is hardly noticeable. The individual miracle has lost its power of influence and is already discounted by human beings.

Great Responds

It is to the credit of Yitro that he chose to act positively upon hearing of the events that occurred to the Jewish people in their exodus from Egypt. He uprooted himself to join the Jewish people in their travels through the desert.

Drive Forward

Despite everything Pharaoh is undoubtedly also aware of, he continues his suicidal course. What drives Pharaoh to this extreme?

Public Pressure

It is difficult to understand the attitude in Moshe's statement to Heaven that it had not yet freed the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage. Moshe certainly realized that Heaven was aware of the promises.

Jewish Idealism

There were Jews who were willing to cooperate with the governmental authorities in policing the Jewish slave society. Eventually, these Jews also found themselves to be the victims of the Pharaoh and his cruel decree.

Mordechai Hidden in the Ktoret

the name of the hero of the Purim story, Mordechai, is alluded to in our Parsha which describes the spices that constitute the incense offering in the tabernacle and temple.

The Similarities Between Tetzaveh and Purim

There seems to be great similarities between this Torah reading and the reading of the book of Esther on Purim. Throughout the entire Torah, we find that the name of our great teacher Moshe (after his birth) is found in each weekly portion, with one lone exception. In Tetzaveh Moshe’s name never appears, even though we are aware that Moshe is the one who wrote this portion of the Torah and taught it to the Jewish people for all eternity. We are aware that Moshe is the hidden author, the director of events behind the scenes.

Moshe's Big Task

Human beings are very possessive when it comes to money. Heaven therefore placed a great burden on our teacher Moshe when it required him to ask the Jewish people to part with their wealth to build a holy Tabernacle.

The Jewish Laws

After the granting of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, this is followed with a long and detailed list of instructions, commandments, and laws. The mere existence of such a list presupposes the willingness of the population to follow these laws and instructions.

A Human Justice System

One of the basic lessons learned from Parashat Yitro is that there is no perfect system of justice if it involves human beings and judges.

Freedom From the Exile

we read in the Torah the final chapter of the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage and slavery. Yet, the Torah goes to great lengths to point out to us that freedom as a concept cannot exist in a vacuum.

What the Word Bo Really Means

Since every word of our holy Torah carries with it many layers of significance, it is incumbent upon us to understand why this particular word, Bo, is employed by the Torah to describe a certain situation.