Philosophers and theologians remind us that God is Eternal, infinitely beyond our comprehension. Rabbis remind us that God must not be—and cannot be—represented by any physical entity i.e. idols, pictures. If God is so vastly remote and beyond visualization, how are we to connect with God?
This week’s Torah portion has the only mention of “the book of the Wars of the Lord” (Sefer Milhamot Hashem). Commentators and scholars speculate about what was contained in this now lost book. Was it a collection of poems in praise of God? Was it a record of the Israelites’ wars? Who had access to this book? Who wrote it?
We are to see life as a journey with an unfolding road ahead. When we reach one goal, we should then look ahead to our next goal. Once we stop this process, our lives stagnate and regress into the past.
Lo Titgodeu is a warning to the Jewish People and to the world. When we “cut” ourselves into self-enclosed and self-righteous groups, we ultimately “cut” ourselves off from our fellow human beings…and from God.
A well-known Jewish aphorism is “zekher tsaddik livrakha” (Proverbs 10:7), the memory of a righteous person is a source of blessing. This is not just figuratively true, but in many cases it is factually true. A righteous life can continue to impact on descendants for generations to come.
Angel for Shabbat, Parashat Shelah Lekha
by Rabbi Marc D. Angel
For a religious person, relationship with God is a central feature of life. But how does one investigate and seek for the Almighty?
The Torah teaches us that society is best served when all of us look out for each other; when the poor, the widow and orphan are not left behind; when we realize that we each have a role to play in creating a fairer, more moral and idealistic world.
Today, we don’t have the physical manifestations of tsara’at and we don’t punish anyone by sending them into isolation. However, we can each find occasion to make private time for self-reflection. The goal is to enable us to rise above the pettiness of lashon hara. We aren’t better when we demean others; we actually demean ourselves when we do so.
We ought not wait for eulogies at funerals to express our feelings. We ought to live as loving, thoughtful and sharing human beings who honestly cherish and value our family and friends--and who let them know how much they mean to us.