The hope of this site is to be educational and inspirational. I see the Torah as an instruction manual given to us by a
benevolent Father in heaven to help us navigate our lives, with
stories and examples for us to learn from.
BIBLE
= Book of Instruction By which to Live
on Earth
FROG = Forever Rely On
G-d
Frogs only jump forward not backward.
So too must we continue to move forward in our quest for
spirituality and contentment.
1 second ago
Chp. 21 verses 10 & 11: An introduction about the portion. The Torah tells us about war and if you find a beautiful captive what you can and cannot do. Understanding the concept on different levels.
1 second ago
254, A Positive Lesson from Covid 19. A look at the connection between Covid 19 and Kavod 19 # of the Hebrew word AHCHI, brother. A discussion on how the two ideas connect.
1 week ago
253 How to Kill your Wife, ( with Kindness). A thought on married life and how to deal with all the challenges that it creates. Also a look at intimacy in marriage.
1 week ago
Chp. 20 verses 10 - 20: Continues with the laws of war and besieging a city. Chp. 21 verses 1 - 9: Deals with the law of a dead body found in a field. The ritual of the Eglah Arufah, the calf whose neck we break as a sign that after a war we view a human life as something sacred.
2 weeks ago
252 Sibling Rivalry, a challenge that began with the first two brothers and has continued all through history even until today. A look at words such as ACHIM, brothers or RAYACHAH, your friend tell us a great deal about this relationship with our sibling!
2 weeks ago
Chp. 20 verses 3 - 9: Preparing for war. Three conditions that exempt a man from going out to battle. Then the fourth, if he is faint of heart. The logic behind these exemptions is perfect! The wisdom of Torah.
6 years ago
Chp. 21 verses 1 & 2: Introduction, why the civil laws were mentioned here and now. The first law mentioned is, if one buys a Jewish slave.
6 years ago
Chp. 21 verses 2 - 7:The laws of a Jewish slave who goes free after six years. If he is married the master may give him a Canaanite maidservant to bear children for the master. If at the end of the six years the Jewish slave decides to stay the master has to bore his ear with an awl and he stays until the Jubilee year. It continues with a man who sells his minor daughter as a slave, she can only serve for six years or until puberty, which ever comes first.
6 years ago
Chp. 21 verses 8 - 15: Continues with the Jewish maidservant. If the master does not marry her, or give her to his son as a wife then he should help her to redeem herself. He cannot sell her to a gentile. If he does marry her he must give her the same rights as any other wife. If he or his son do not marry her and the six years pass or she reaches puberty she goes out without paying any money. If you kill someone you are put to death. If you kill someone by accident you go to a city of refuge. However, if it is intentional you are even taken from the alter to be killed. One who stikes his father or mother and draws blood is put to death.
6 years ago
Chp. 21 verses 16 -22: Begins with the laws of kidnapping, and continues with cursing one's father or mother. Then the laws concerning a person who injures his friend and the obligation to pay doctor bills and the permission to seek medical attention. The laws about killing a man or maid servant. Then the laws about injuring a pregnant woman and killing her fetus.
6 years ago
Chp. 21 verses 23 - 36: Continues with the woman who is injured by accident and miscarries, if she dies then there is only monetary restitution. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is again monetary restitution. Torah mentions burns, wounds, and bruises, which teach us about the five things that one who injures has to pay. If one knocks out the eye or tooth of his gentile slave they are automatically freed. Continues with an ox that gores and the laws connected with it and the responsibility of the owner. Also the difference between a goring ox and one that had never gored before.
6 years ago
Chp. 21 verse 37: Chp. ends with the law of stealing an ox or a sheep and selling or killing it. Chp. 22 verses 1 - 8: Begins with the laws of a robber and when you are allowed and not allowed to kill him and his restitution. Continues with the laws of an animal that damages with it's feet or mouth, and the restitution. Next the damage done by fire. Continues with the laws of a watchman and his culpability.
6 years ago
Chp. 22 verses 9 - 21: Continues with laws of the paid watchman, borrower, and the renter. Next the laws of the man who seduces a virgin who has never been betrothed. The sorcerer and one who practices bestiality are put to death. One is prohibited from serving an idol as one would serve G-d in the Temple. One should not wrong or oppress a stranger since you were strangers in Egypt. You should not afflict any widow or orphan.
6 years ago
Chp. 22 verses 22 - 29: The punishment if you oppress the widow or the orphan. The prohibition of loaning money with interest. Returning a garment that you have taken for non payment of a debt, and the promise that Hashem will listen to the cries of the borrower. Not to curse a judge or a ruler. Tithing of your fields and your animals at their proper time and order.
6 years ago
Chp. 22 verse 30 Chp. 23 verses 1 - 5: Chapter ends with laws of an animal that was mauled and killed by a wild animal, it's carcass should be thrown to the dogs. Chp. 23 begins with the laws of testimony and judges hearing cases. They should not pervert justice whatever the outcome may be. Truth must prevail. If you find your enemies lost animal you must return it to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying down under a load that is too heavy for it, you are required to help him unload it.
6 years ago
Chp. 23 verses 6 - 16: Begins with not to pervert justice for the poor. To distance oneself from anything false, the law of double jeopardy. Not to take a bribe. Nor should one oppress the stranger. Six years one is to sow and gather his produce, but in the seventh year he must leave the land fallow. Anything that grows must be left for the poor and the beast of the field. One should distance himself from even mentioning the name of an idol. It then continues with the Regalim; Passover, Shavuoth, and Succoth.
6 years ago
Chp. 23 verses 17 - 25: Continues with laws of the three festivals. One should not cook a kid in its mother's milk. Hashem then tells them that they will sin and He will send an angel to lead them. However, they must listen to his instruction since he will not pardon any transgression. Hashem will cut off their enemies, the seven nations of the land. They are warned again not to serve idols, and to totally destroy their alters. They are told to serve Hashem their G-d and that He would bless their bread and their water, and that He would remove sickness from their midst.
6 years ago
Chp. 23 verses 26 - 33 Chp. 24 verses 1 - 4: Hashem tells the people that He will make them victorious in their conquest of the land through miraculous means. However when they enter the land then they would conquer it slowly so that the wild animals would not take over the land. He described the boundaries that they would inherit and commanded then not to make treaties with the people of the land for they would make them sin against Him. Chp 24, goes back to the time when Hashem told Moshe to ascend Mt. Sinai. He was to take Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and the seventy elders with him. However, he was to ascend the mountain alone. He related to the people all the words of Hashem and they answered "we will do." He then wrote down all the words that Hashem had transmitted to him up to that time and he built an alter at the base of the mountain.
6 years ago
Chp. 24 verses 5 -18: Moshe has the priest bring sacrifices to Hashem. He takes half the blood and sprinkles it on the alter and the other half he sprinkles on the people. He then reads to the people and they say "all that G-d has spoken we will do and we will obey." Moshe goes to the mountain accompanied by Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and the elders. There they have a vision of the Divinity of Hashem, and they ate and they drank. Then Hashem tells Moshe to ascend the mountain to receive the tablets of stone containing the ten commandments. Yehoshua goes with Moshe to the foot of the mountain where he pitches his tent and waits for his master to return. After six days Hashem calls out to Moshe to ascend the mountain where he would stay for forty days and forty nights.
9 years ago
Chp. 23 verse 26 - chp. 24: Hashem promises to be with them when they conquer the land, and a warning not to serve their gods. Chp. 24, deals with the preparations by Moshe before he goes up the mountain to receive the ten commandments.
9 years ago
Chp. 21 verses 1-10: Introduction. begins with the laws of the Hebrew slave, and the conditions of his servitude. Continues with the laws of a father selling his daughter as a slave.
9 years ago
Chp. 21 verse 10-25: Continues with the laws of the Jewish female slave. Laws of the unintentional and intentional murderers. One who hits his parents. The kidnaper, one who curses his parents, and the case of assault. The case of a master who kills his man or maid servant. The unintentional killing of a fetus, and the laws of compensation.
9 years ago
Chp. 21 verse 26 - Chp. 22 verse 8: Laws of injuring a gentile slave. The laws of a goring ox. The laws of an open pit. Laws of one who steals an ox or sheep and sells or kills it. Chp. 22, laws of the burglar. Laws of destruction of property and arson. Laws of the unpaid watchman.
9 years ago
Chp. 22 verses 8-28: Continues with laws of unpaid watchman. Laws of paid watchman and borrower. Laws of a seducer, sorcerer, and bestiality. Laws of the stranger, widow, and orphans. Laws of interest and taking of a pledge. Cursing a judge or a ruler, and the laws of first fruits, and other holy gifts.
9 years ago
Chp. 22 verse 28 - Chp. 23 verse 26: Continues with first born gift of a sheep or ox, and the commandment to be holy, and to not eat trief. Chp. 23, the laws of false testimony, and returning a lost animal. Not to pervert justice nor take a bribe. Warning about oppressing the stranger. The laws of Shemittah, Shabbos, and the three festivals. The prohibition of milk and meat. A prophecy of the future when the angel of Hashem will lead them into the land, and a warning not to serve their gods, only Hashem and He will bless you.