דבר תורה פרשת בהר

דבר תורה פרשת בהר

We have just come off from our fun-filled activities of Lag Baomer. Lag Baomer is all about achdut and coming together as a nation to celebrate together. Rabbi Akiva's students struggled to be a cohesive unit, and because of this, they were punished. Each of them slowly started getting affected by a plague that took them over. Lag Baomer was a day that they stopped dying. This is a day to rejoice and celebrate the end of this terrible plague. It is also a day to reflect on how we are treating each other and to assess whether there are any areas where we could improve on when it comes to watching out for our fellow Jews.

In Parshat B'har, Hashem makes a promise that if Bnei Yisrael follow the laws of shmita and do the right thing, they will have enough food for the 6th, 7th and 8th year.

How is it possible that everyone will do the right thing?

It is nearly impossible to expect each person in such a big nation to do the right thing at all times. I believe that the message here is that each of us needs to make sure that WE are doing the right thing, so that we could pick up the slack of people who might not be doing the right thing. If we work together, and each try our best to do the right thing, we can make sure that we are covered for this blessing that Hashem has given us.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Steven Penn

דבר תורה פרשת אחרי מות

In honor of this week's Teacher Appreciation Week, and Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, I took the opportunity to show the students a short video about gratitude today at Shabbat Assembly.

Click here for a link to the video.  

Shabbat Shalom, 

Rabbi Steven Penn