Shlach - Striving Higher

Why did the Torah place the section speaking of the inaugural sacrifices next to the section about lighting the menorah in the Tabernacle? Why is it followed by the priestly blessings? Why was Aharon concerned about his exclusion from the inaugural sacrifices? What was Hashem's reassurance with the command to light the menorah and the priestly blessings? What was the difference between Aharon's inauguration of these commandments and the inauguration of the sacrifices?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 24:39

Matos-Masei - Lottery of Life

Why was it important to give out the portions of Israel through a lottery and also asking the Urim v'tumim? Why couldn't Moshe himself determine the unique role of each person and tribe without these tools? What is the concept of the land of Israel as the 'helpmate' of the people of Israel? How does one's portion in Israel correspond to his unique purpose in life? How does one elevate the land of Israel to higher levels of holiness?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 29:18

Vayishlach - Shimon and Levi

This week's podcast is dedicated in memory of Eliyahu ben Aharon and Pinchos Ben Yakov by Arthur Shisman. Why are Shimon and Levi referred to as the 'sons of Yaakov?' Why are they called the 'brothers of Dinah?' What is the true concept of a brother or sister? How were they so sure they would conquer the city of Shechem? What is the meaning of the Yaakov capturing the city with his sword and bow? Why do the nations of the world threaten to take away any gains the Jewish people make in the land of Israel?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 25:06

Reeh - Expansion from Constriction

What is the concept of expansion in regards to the land of Israel? When does that expansion occur? How does it parallel the challenge and redemption of Yosef? Why did Abba Yuden lose all of his wealth only to give charity and then become even wealthier? What is the idea behind the comparison of the expansion of Israel to a scroll being opened?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 23:50

Ekev - Desired Land

What is the difference between the land of Egypt and the land Israel? What is the significance of the land of Israel being sustained by rain? What does it mean when the verse says that Israel is a place that Hashem 'constantly searches,' and that 'His eyes are upon it?' Doesn't Hashem also take care of and protect other lands? How is the concept of 'desire' connected intimately to the land of Israel and the Jewish people?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 24:57

Pinchas - Spiritual Intuition

Why do we need so many different voices pointing out which piece of the land of Israel is given to which tribe? What does it mean that the lottery ticket itself spoke? What is the message of the midrash in saying that the women of Israel were able to close the spiritual gap created by the men? When the daughters of Tzelafchad asked for their inheritance, why did each judge defer to a higher judge until Moshe deferred to Hashem Himself? How is the mantle of leadership passed from Moshe to Yehoshua and what does this teach us about spiritual inheritance?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 27:46

Behar - Sharing the Wealth

What is the Torah's approach to charity and 'spreading the wealth?' Why does the midrash place the idea of spiritual wealth beside the concept of material wealth? What are the mechanics of the spiritual principle behind the fact that when I share what I have - both in wisdom and in material matters - I get more myself? How does one deal with the automatic feelings of constriction when approached by a poor person? What does it mean that 'the words of the poor of the land of Israel are spiritual teachings?'

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 25:00

Vayishlach - Distorted Reflections

Why are the three locations that the midrash says clearly belong to the Jewish people all currently being claimed by the Arabs? When we do not understand a word in Hebrew, why do we turn to other languages to understand that word? What is the significance of the city of Shechem? Why is it given to Joseph? What is the significance of its numerical value of 360? Why does the story there revolve around an issue of connection between male and female? Why does the Torah stress that Jacob came there first on his way into Israel? Why does he buy property there?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 25:58

Re'eh - Israel - Mind of the World

Why does the Torah constantly connect the keeping of the commandments with the land of Israel? Why do we spend the ten weeks leading up to Rosh Hashana reading Moshe's speech at the threshold of Israel? Why do we focus on the destruction and future rebuilding of Israel during this time? Why does the Torah refer to God's divine providence in Israel as 'the eyes of God?' Why is Rosh Hashana called the 'head of the year' as opposed to the 'beginning of the year?'

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 24:49

Balak - Amalek, Israel and Moshiach - who is Amalek today?

Why is the verse that speaks about the 'tents of Jacob' immediately before the verse that speaks of the destruction of Agag, king of Amalek? What is represented by the number 72? How does Amalek manifest as the counter-force to the Jewish people? Who is Amalek today? How do we 'fight' Amalek in our times?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 26:29

Ki Seitze - Good Brings Good

What is the concept behind our sages' statement that a good deed brings another good deed, and a negative deed brings another negative deed? Why are we enjoined to completely destroy the nation of Amalek? How do the people of Israel and the people of Amalek function in parallel ways? What is the force of Israel and Amalek within each human being?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 21:47

Ekev - Inheriting the Land

When it comes to inheriting the land of Israel, why does the Torah repeatedly stress that it is not in the merit of anything that the Jewish people have done? What does it mean that we are redeemed and given Israel 'for the sake of Hashem's name?' What does it mean that the fruit trees in Israel and in the wilderness would grow and produce fruit in one day?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running Time: 23:02

Masei - Warring for Israel

Why do the thirty one kings desire to fight in the war on Sisera's side against the people of Israel? Why are they willing to do it for free? What does it mean that they 'thirst to drink of the waters of Israel?' Why did Jacob, Moses and King David run away from their enemies? When is it time to run, and when is it time to fight? What is the secret power of the Jewish people when they reach the amount of 600,000?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 22:14

Balak - Threshold Immorality

After 540 years of existence as the Jewish people, why do they face such a great test in licentious behavior just as they are entering Israel? What is parallel to Avraham and his interaction with Sodom as he is about to conceive Isaac? What is the concept of the 'Shittim River' which causes those who drink of it to be involved in licentious behavior? Why was there a special desire for this type of behavior immediately before the rebuilding of the Second Temple?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 25:11

Bo - Finding Spiritual Alignment

What is the significance of the commandment of sanctifying the new moon being the first of the commandments? What does it mean that the Torah should have begun with this commandment? What is the connection between this mitzvah and God's gift of Israel to the Jewish people? Which is the main part of the lunar month - when the moon is full or when it wanes completely? What is the concept of the extra month that is added in a Jewish leap year? What is the secret of true spiritual alignment?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running Time: 22:46

Vayishlach - Yakov, Yosef and the Sod Ha'ibbur

What is the concept of the 'additional' revelation of Hashem to Yakov in this week's parsha? What is the blessing he receives? How does this relate to the land of Israel? What is the concept of the secret of the Ibbur? How does it relate to this blessing? What is the aspect of the addition to the year - 'hashana?' What is the concept of the month - 'hachodesh?'

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: 19:59

Shlach - Inclusive Spirituality

Why does the Arizal indicate that the spies and their generation were on a level that was beyond the land of Israel? How does this reconcile with the fact that they sinned in speaking negatively of the land? What is the antidote for the challenge of the description of Israel as a 'land that swallows its inhabitants?' Is one meant to be only spiritual, or to include the mundane within the spiritual?

Find out in this week's parsha podcast.

Running time: (15:48)

Vaeschanan - Resonating with Truth

Why does Moshe preface his request to enter Israel by appointing Yehoshua to lead the Jewish people into Israel? Why does Moshe form his prayer as a "תחינה" - a supplication asking for a free gift? What is the difference between the experience of spirituality outside of Israel as opposed to the experience inside of Israel? How does one bring himself into a place of deeper truth?

Find out in this week's Parsha Podcast.

Running time: 21:48

Ari Goldwag orchestra video (one man band)

Thoughts on Tisha B'av

A few years ago on Tisha B'av, a member of my shul spoke, Mr. Stimler z'l. He was a holocaust survivor, married to a holocaust survivor. I distinctly remember the first time I met him, when he made a 'tikun' after davening. Usually there is a name to mention when you say your brachos. The paper next to the snacks and drinks listed five names; the names of his mother and sisters who were killed on one day in the town where he grew up. When he spoke that Tisha B'av, he went through his history and his experiences during war times. I believe it was in response to someone's question that he described the feeling people had before the war. There was a sense that everything would be fine, and that the storm clouds would pass. That belief couldn't have been more naive.

I don't know if the question was asked at the time, but it definitely began to whirl around in my own mind over the next few months. Here in Israel, there is a sense that everything will be fine, and that the storm clouds will pass. It seemed to be that very same belief that the Jews of Europe so foolishly held. Was it ludicrous and dangerous to keep my family in a country that was explicitly threatened with another holocaust?

On a trip to America, I asked this question to a number of Rabbis who I greatly respect. One of those I asked was my Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yechiel Perr. His response puzzled me. He asked me what my friends think. I didn't know. When I came back to Israel, I started asking around, and the response I got was that we are protected here in Eretz Yisrael; Hashem is watching out for us here.

I was uneasy with what I felt was a somewhat tenuous resolution to my question, but I convinced myself that this feeling of safety wasn't just based on naivete, rather it was founded in fact. Since the Jewish people have returned here to the land of Israel and stood up as a nation, we have experienced miracle after miracle that have clearly shown Hashem's protecting hand. This has been our continuous experience throughout the decades since World War II. To believe that He would protect us and help us so openly, only to forget about us in the end, did not seem likely.

Recently, through the vehicle of my Parsha Podcast, I became deeply aware of a much more beautiful and satisfying answer to my question.

In this past week's Parsha, Moshe reviewed how the Jewish people had sinned with the negative report of the land of Israel, distrusting that Hashem would be in their midst, and instead choosing to believe that Hashem's hatred led Him to take them out of Egypt, to destroy them at the hand of the Emorites of Canaan. This feeling was rooted in the Jewish people's sense of inadequacy. They felt unworthy of Hashem's presence, and felt that it was a fleeting moment of grace, one that could easily be lost at a moment's notice. This lack of faith in their own worthiness led them to send the spies to see if they could take the land of Israel on their own, in a natural manner. The negative report of the spies reinforced their low self-esteem, and they began to believe that not only were they unworthy of Hashem's Divine assistance, but just the contrary, they were the subject of Divine hatred, heaven forbid.

This lack of self confidence led Hashem to indeed recognize that they were not yet ready to enter the land, for they could not be a vehicle for Hashem's Presence if they indeed felt unworthy. Their low self-esteem started a cycle ending with the realization of their very fear.

Hashem accentuated this when He said, "וְטַפְּכֶם אֲשֶׁר אֲמַרְתֶּם לָבַז יִהְיֶה וּבְנֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדְעוּ הַיּוֹם טוֹב וָרָע הֵמָּה יָבֹאוּ שָׁמָּה וְלָהֶם אֶתְּנֶנָּה וְהֵם יִירָשושׁוּהָ." - "Your children who you said would be plundered, your children who do not yet know Good from Evil, they will come there, to them will I give it, and they will inherit it."

The midrash points out that there are three different statements here in regards to the Jewish people getting the land of Israel. The first is that "they will come there." The second is that "to them I will give it." The third is that "they will inherit it." The midrash explains that each of these three correspond to three different points in history. The statement that "they will come there" corresponds to the first time the Jewish people entered Israel with Yehoshua. The statement that "to them I will give it" corresponds to the return of the Jewish people to Israel with Ezra, after the seventy year Babylonian exile. The last statement, that "they will inherit it" refers to the end of days, when the Jewish people will finally return, once and for all, after the long exile we now experience.

What is the difference between the first time, when the Jewish people only "entered the land," as opposed to the third time, when they will "inherit the land?" The difference is that the Jewish people at that time had not yet developed a true sense that Hashem was with them, and that Hashem was protecting them. They could not truly inherit the land because they did not yet believe in themselves enough for Hashem to indeed bring them the supernatural success that was necessary to conquer the spiritual plane of the land of Israel. This would only be possible after the Jewish people had gone through the most difficult and grueling process of intense exile, difficulty after difficulty, pogrom after pogrom, crusade after crusade, inquisition after inquisition. These difficulties are meted out upon the Jewish people because of the very fact that we represent Hashem in the world, and we represent the light of truth and good. The more we have suffered for Hashem, the more we could begin to believe that we truly deserve His Presence to indeed dwell in our midst.

I realized that this is what we are witnessing today. The Jewish people stands here on the holy soil of the land of Israel, ready to metaphorically walk into the land of Israel, not just in a physical sense, but in a spiritual and Messianic sense. This is coupled with the fact that we truly believe that Hashem will protect us from a physical holocaust. This is in stark contrast to the Jewish people who stood poised to enter the land 3300 years ago. They did not yet believe in themselves, nor in their connection to Hashem, and they therefore could not 'inherit the land.' They could only 'enter the land.' Through the blood and tears of an exile that has seemed like it would never end, the Jewish people today senses that Hashem will be in its midst and protect it from harm, come what may.

May we indeed be the generation that finally merits to 'inherit the land.'