There are two sequential verses in this week’s parasha (chapter 6:10-11) without any apparent connection.
And Noach bore three sons: Shem, Cham and Yefet: And the land (society) became corrupt before the Lord and the land was filled with thievery (deception).
Why does the verse dealing with the corrupt state of society appear adjacent to the verse informing us of Noach’s three sons?
In the interim between the last weekly message and today’s, we witnessed the erasure, obliteration and elimination of 4000 years of Jewish and world history.
UNESCO, after bringing forth overwhelming scientific proof and historical evidence, has determined that the Jewish nation has no connection to the Temple Mount. They claim that there never was a Temple – not of King Solomon, not the second Temple of Ezra and not the grandiose Temple of Herod that stood 100 amot tall (equal to the height of a building of 25 stories) and not made of glass and aluminum but of stones the likes of which we can see at the Kotel.
What’s behind all this? Where is HaShem taking the world?
Medinat Yisrael has many soubriquets: Start-up Nation; Originative Nation, Productive, Imaginative, Innovative, Inspiring Nation. All are correct to a degree, but none succeed in conveying the essence of the Medina and its universal game-changing mission. Therefore, I suggest the soubriquet – The Sling-Shot Nation. Why?
The fleeting moments just before Yom HaDin – the day of judgment, is our final opportunity of this year to make a reckoning of what we have or have not done properly in the eyes of HaShem.
Just as Hashem is infinite so too are the depths of understanding necessary in order to grasp His motives and actions; nevertheless, there are several basic concepts which can lead one along the path of understanding.
Our parsha begins with the mitzva of “bikurim” – a landowner who grew any one of the seven species of flora which are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive or date, must bring a sampling of the first growth to the Bet Mikdash (holy temple in Jerusalem) starting after the holiday of Shavuot.
The landowner declares his recognition and thanks to HaShem for the bountiful blessings he received as an owner of land in Eretz Yisrael and presents the fruit to a Kohen who places it near the altar.
The Torah states that if A divorced his wife, and thereafter she married B and he too divorced her or died, she may not go back and remarry A.
Several reasons for the prohibition have been suggested, including the idea that the Torah knew that it could lead to halachically legal but morally repulsive adultery, where B pays A to divorce his wife so that he can live with her for a time and then return her to A. While no halacha has been violated, the Torah calls this conduct “to’ayva” – repugnant and obscene – and hence declares it prohibited.
In any event, the Torah set down the principle that a woman who was divorced by A and then committed her allegiance to B, may never return to former husband A.
