Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland
Poland’s modern-day emergence is connected to many storied names, but none exceeds Josef Pilsudski, the modern-day military hero, socialist activist, and head of state.[…]
One of the core principles of rabbinic understanding of the Torah is that no paragraph, no verse, no word and even no letter is redundant — it’s there for a purpose and it always means something. AND when the Torah repeats, it really demands our attention because it’s rare. In Parashat Matot-Masei, we revisit the story of the daughters of Zelophhad—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah. Their plea is discussed in our last week parasha—Pinchas—when they approached Moshe to request their father’s inheritance. Now, here they are again.[…]
Our parasha starts in the middle of the story that concludes our previous Torah portion and talks about the Israelites getting involved in an idolatrous cult:
While Israel was staying at Shittim, the menfolk profaned themselves by whoring with the Moabite women, who invited the menfolk to the sacrifices for their god. The menfolk partook of them and worshiped that god. Thus Israel attached itself to Baal-peor, and יהוה was incensed with Israel. (Num 25:1-3)[…]
The main theme of our Torah portion is the story of Balak, the king of Moab, who summons the prophet Balaam to curse the people of Israel. Three times, from three different vantage points, Balaam attempts to pronounce his curses; each time, blessings are issued forth instead. One of reasons Balaam brings to justify his inability to curse the Jewish people says the following:[…]
