Prism of Torah

151

How much of an 'אדם' are you • Parshas Tazria • Ep. 71

Apr 3, 2019

12:19

Right before Pesach, near Kiev, a Jew stands falsely accused in a courtroom. Days earlier the town's rav received a letter whose contents nobody knew, and now a hostile question about a Gemara is thrown at him, with every eye in the room on him. How does he answer? The story sits beside a question from the Alshich on Parshas Tazria. Why does the pasuk call someone with tzaraas "Adam," the highest name for a person, when his sin is lashon hara? Rav Shlomo Ganzfried, in his Apiryon, finds the key in what that one word says about us.

152

Between pure & impure • Parshas Shemini • Ep. 70

Mar 28, 2019

11:34

The last pasuk of Shemini says the whole parsha was given to distinguish between the pure and the impure. But Rashi asks: is that really needed to tell a donkey from a cow? He reads it as pointing to something much finer, a difference as small as a hair's breadth. The Chofetz Chaim's preface to the Mishnah Berurah applies it to Shabbos and speech. A man opens his door to a rosh yeshiva's son collecting for the yeshiva, and asks what the second seder is worth to his father. The reply makes that hair's breadth very real.

153

Exploring the Essence of Purim • Purim • Ep. 69

Mar 19, 2019

13:57

The Megillah has a horse, a tree and a feast, so why did Chazal name the holiday after Haman's lottery? Why is Hashem's name missing from the whole Megillah? And if the Jews saw the sea split, why does the Gemara say they re-accepted the Torah out of love only because of the miracles of Purim? One idea from Amalek ties these together, and with it the reasons for costumes and for reading the Megillah twice. A story about a crowded bus stop in Bnei Brak, a long wait and a bus driver's decision gives the idea a very ordinary face.

154

The Power Behind • Purim • Ep. 68

Mar 13, 2019

4:25

Two old friends, one now running an entire city, and one who moves there on his friend's invitation expecting a job in no time. Offer after offer never comes, no matter what he changes: the suit, the tie, the resume. Why does nothing work? For anyone who thinks a little more effort will fix income or any other stuck area of life, this Purim mashal asks what really moves things. It ends on what to do with Purim itself, and what we really want from the drinking.

155

A true Oved Hashem • Parshas Pekudei • Ep. 67

Mar 6, 2019

12:03

The Beis HaLevi asks why the Torah keeps repeating "as Hashem commanded" in the building of the Mishkan, and connects it to two more puzzles. How did the generation that saw the sea split fall into the golden calf? And why was the Akeidah a test for Avraham at all, when Hashem himself gave the command? One answer covers all three. A king's instruction to his ambassador, just one small thing not to do, reveals what is at stake in being an eved Hashem.

156

Always for the Best • Parshas Ki Sisa • Ep. 65

Feb 20, 2019

14:28

When something painful happens, Chazal still tell us to bless Hashem for the bad as we do for the good, and a Gemara in Berachos says to do it with simcha. How can anyone be happy while saying Dayan HaEmes? And in Ki Sisa, what did Hashem actually answer when Moshe asked why the righteous suffer, with the words "you will see My back"? Rashi's wording on that simcha opens the door. Rav Shach once told what everyone asked him as a young chassan with no house promised, and how his answer looked years later.

157

The Best Way to Live Life • Parshas Tetzaveh • Ep. 64

Feb 13, 2019

11:56

Why is Moshe's name missing from Parshas Tetzaveh, when Bnei Yisrael did teshuva and his request to be erased should no longer have stood? And why this parsha of all of them? A Gemara in Zevachim about Moshe at the burning bush, and another in Shabbos about suspecting others, lead to two ways of serving Hashem. Then the Vilna Gaon sends a messenger to find an esrog, and the only beautiful one in town belongs to a merchant who will sell it on one strange condition. The messenger has no idea how the Gaon will react.

158

Optical Illusion of Giving • Parshas Terumah • Ep. 63

Feb 6, 2019

10:58

In Parshas Terumah, Hashem tells Bnei Yisrael to "take" an offering for Him, though the word should have been "bring". And later the Nesi'im, who gave generously, have a letter missing from their name. What did they do wrong? A Gemara in Bava Basra about Rabbi Akiva and a skeptic who asks why Hashem doesn't just feed the poor himself gives the key. A father-in-law who supports his son-in-law's learning, while his wife asks how long it will go on, turns the question of who gives to whom upside down.

159

Continuous Growth • Parshas Mishpatim • Ep. 62

Jan 31, 2019

12:30

A Gemara in Shabbos says each Jew received two crowns when they answered "naaseh venishma". One for "we will do" makes sense. But what is so special about "we will listen and learn", when anyone must learn in order to do? And if the Midrash says each person heard the Ten Commandments at their own level, why did their souls leave them? The answers center on what a Jew's level actually is. Then the Chofetz Chaim's granddaughter comes to him with a challenge about the wider world, and his reply is worth hearing twice.

160

The Importance of Achdus • Parshas Yisro • Ep. 61

Jan 24, 2019

18:52

Rashi notes a strange bit of math in Bechukosai: five will chase a hundred, but a hundred will chase ten thousand, not two thousand. Why does the number jump instead of growing evenly? And why does Rashi say Bnei Yisrael camped at Har Sinai "as one person with one heart," when the pasuk already uses a singular verb? Rav Chaim Shmulevitz explains what happens to our strength when we stand together, and why Purim carries something Matan Torah did not. Every relationship in a home, a shul or a community is part of the picture.

161

How Much Do We Really Believe? • Parshas Beshalach • Ep. 60

Jan 16, 2019

13:06

The Torah describes the Jews crossing the Yam Suf twice, a few pesukim apart. The first time, they enter "in the sea on dry land". The second time, "on dry land in the sea". Even the word for wall is spelled differently. Why the repetition, the flipped order and the missing letter? The Vilna Gaon in Kol Eliyahu has one answer for all three, and it points to a question about where our trust really sits. A man worried about parnassah in Eretz Yisrael, who could not read Hebrew, lives it out years later.

162

Respect and Being Respected • Parshas Bo • Ep. 59

Jan 9, 2019

12:51

A man walks into a job interview in Canada with a half-grown beard during the weeks between Pesach and Shavuos, and he has a decision to make before he gets there. It connects to a question on Parshas Bo. When the Jews left Mitzrayim with silver and gold, why did Hashem arrange that the Egyptians would favor them, when fear would have gotten the same result? The Netziv, with a pasuk in Devarim, explains why the respect of the nations matters, and why it still calls for a clear line between us and them.

163

How Big of a Person R U • Parshas Vaera • Ep. 58

Jan 2, 2019

13:38

We are told both to love our fellow Jew like ourselves and to look after our own life first. How do those fit together? Rav Shimon Shkop answers by asking what "myself" really means. Meanwhile, the pasuk says "vayigdal" about Moshe twice, and the Ramban uses that repetition to explain why Hashem chose him to take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. A woman asks Rav Pam for a bracha for her daughter in a difficult labor, and what he does that night is a lesson in greatness.

164

Living With Meaning • Parshas Shemos • Ep. 57

Dec 26, 2018

13:55

Pharaoh's answer to Moshe's first request was to keep the same quota but make the Jews find their own straw. Why not simply double the quota? The Rambam's ruling on what a master may never give a Jewish slave holds the key. A prisoner in a Soviet labor camp, ten years into his sentence, makes a discovery that hits him harder than the years themselves. Along the way, the Midrash about Moshe and the word "az" shows what he saw too narrowly. For anyone who has asked what the point of all this effort is, the question cuts close.

165

working on the negative • Parshas Vayechi • Ep. 56

Dec 20, 2018

17:13

Yaakov blesses his sons from his deathbed, yet Reuven loses the kingship and the Kehunah, and the pasuk blames his rushing "like water" more than the act itself. Why? And if Reuven did teshuva, why wasn't that enough? Rav Eliyahu Lopian in Lev Eliyahu points to something that teshuva on a sin may leave untouched. A family, a hidden envelope of money and a house turned upside down bring it home. Anyone who has said sorry for the same thing twice will recognize the problem.

166

having complete self control • Parshas Vayigash • Ep. 55

Dec 14, 2018

14:46

Why did Yosef wait so long to reveal himself, and what does the pasuk mean when it says he could not restrain himself "in the presence of all who stood before him"? The Kli Yakar sees a careful plan behind every step of the delay. That opens the real question for us: what does it take to stop before acting on impulse? A gadol caught in a moment where every instinct says to react gives a picture of that control when nobody is watching. Think of it the next time your own temper rises.

167

Uprooting the Greek Influence • Chanukah • Ep. 54

Dec 6, 2018

12:39

Yosef asks the wine steward to remember him, and Chazal say that is why he spent two more years in jail. Why? Hashem wants us to make some effort, and asking once seems like the least a person can do. What did Yosef do wrong, and why is Parshas Miketz always read on Chanukah? The Midrash Rabbah and the Beis HaLevi shed light on both, and on the Greek way of looking at the world. A rabbi who never flies first class ends up in one, and one accidental button changes everything.

168

Unveiling the Essence of Chanukah • Chanukah • Ep. 53

Nov 29, 2018

12:09

A crowded barrack in the Holocaust, a shoelace dipped in black shoe polish, and a rebbe about to light the Chanukah candle while everyone holds their breath. After two blessings, he pauses and scans the room before saying the third. Why? Chanukah has its own question: the Gemara describes the miracle of the oil, while the Rambam opens with the war and mentions the oil last. Why the difference, and why do Al HaNissim and Birkas Hamazon speak almost only about the war? One answer reframes what the fight was really about.

169

The Power of Prayer • Parshas Vayishlach • Ep. 52

Nov 22, 2018

17:38

When Yaakov davens before meeting Esav, he asks Hashem to save him "from my brother, from Esav." Why say both, when the Torah never wastes a word? The Beis HaLevi finds two separate prayers hiding in that phrase, and shows why they come in that order. It points to what a parent should worry about most. A father in a hospital far from home, with his only daughter fading, makes a promise to Hashem in an empty shul. What became of that promise is the story.

170

How to Earn Miracles Above Nature • Parshas Vayetzei • Ep. 51

Nov 16, 2018

11:23

Rav Shlomo Kluger says Hashem prefers not to do miracles that go against nature. So why does Chanukah, of all the miracles in our history, get its own Yom Tov and its own bracha? The splitting of the sea does not. Along the way, Leah seems to resent Rachel even though Rachel saved her from humiliation by sharing the secret signs. How could she? And what links all this to Yosef HaTzaddik? One idea ties these questions together.

171

Being honest with oneself • Parshas Vayetzei • Ep. 50

Nov 15, 2018

14:28

Anyone who says "I'm too busy" might wonder what a free hour would reveal. Yaakov spent twenty-two years away from his parents, yet for most of that time he was doing exactly what they had told him to do. So why does the Gemara in Megillah count all of it against him, and why does Hashem punish him through Yosef? Rav Moshe Feinstein comes at it through a different question, about why his parents sent him to find a wife only after Esav threatened him. A man at an esrog stand makes the point in one line.

172

Is There Really Free Will? • Parshas Toldos • Ep. 49

Nov 7, 2018

14:26

According to Rashi, while Rivka was still pregnant, Esav pushed to get out whenever she passed a house of idol worship. Does that mean his path was decided before he was born, and how can that fit with free will? The Rambam seems to contradict himself on whether our nature shapes us. Why does the Parsha bring in Rebbi and Antoninus, and why did Yitzchak want to bless Esav? Rabbi Asaf Prisman separates two things we often blur together, and our own anger, energy and temperament are part of the question.

173

Trusting the Journey • Parshas Chayei Sarah • Ep. 48

Nov 2, 2018

7:02

It is Motzei Pesach in Bnei Brak, and the bus stops are packed with families waiting to get back to Yerushalayim. An hour passes, then another half hour. When a bus finally pulls in, the sign says Rehovot. The passengers beg the driver, and what he does next, and what he tells one passenger on the road, is the story. Sarah Imeinu lived through captivity and years without children and still stayed calm. The Chovos HaLevavos explains how a person can live with that same steadiness.

174

Importance of Acquiring a Friend • Parshas Chayei Sarah • Ep. 47

Nov 1, 2018

11:12

The word "ulai" appears twice in the story of Eliezer and Rivka, and the second time it is spelled so it can be read "elai," me. Rashi, quoting the Midrash, says what Eliezer may have been thinking, and Avraham's answer sounds surprisingly harsh toward a servant who has been so loyal. What was Avraham really telling him? And why does the Torah only hint at it the second time around? Rabbi Asaf Prisman ties it to the curse of Cham and how a man can work his way out of what he inherited.

175

Feasting on Food for Thought • Parshas Chayei Sarah • Ep. 46

Oct 31, 2018

9:47

Anyone who keeps a pet, or a few fish in a tank, has a halacha waiting at the table: a person may not eat before feeding his animals. So how did Rivka give Eliezer water before she gave his camels, when the Avos kept the whole Torah? The Gemara in Berachos learns the rule from the pasuk in Shema, and the Sefer Chasidim raises exactly this difficulty. Several answers follow, and some of them change how we should treat the animals in our care.

176

The Potential Impact of a Mitzvah • Parshas Vayera • Ep. 45

Oct 25, 2018

14:23

The last train has already left, and a student who has just been told to leave the yeshiva that night has nowhere to sleep. The Chofetz Chaim's reaction changes everything. In Vayera, Avraham sits at his tent in pain three days after his bris, worried that no guests are coming. Why would he be upset that nobody needs help? And what good is it that Hashem sends angels dressed as travelers, when angels are not real guests? Rav Shlomo Heiman answers both by looking at what Avraham thought his day was for.

177

Living in Confusion • Parshas Lech Lecha • Ep. 44

Oct 18, 2018

14:27

Noach already knew Torah, and so did Adam. So why does Chazal date the era of Torah to the day Avraham brought the idol worshippers of Charan back to Hashem? The Ra'avad asks why Avraham alone gets the credit, when so many tzaddikim before him spoke out against idolatry. His answer sounds almost like a riddle about hidden idols and public ones. It leads into how easily we wrap a wrong choice in the look of a mitzvah. A chassid asks his rebbe for a blessing to lead the davening in another shul, and the rebbe's reaction tells the story.

178

Impact of Society • Parshas Noach • Ep. 43

Oct 12, 2018

17:02

Rabbi Yochanan says that if Noach had lived in the generation of Avraham, he would not have counted for anything. Yet the Torah calls him a tzaddik. How can a man called righteous be dismissed like that, and how can Reish Lakish read the same words as praise? The Gemara in Sanhedrin records the argument, and the Zichron Meir finds a surprising point the two sides share. It speaks to anyone who works to hold their ground in a difficult crowd. A merchant of precious stones gets one chance, with only twenty seconds to decide.

179

The Path to Perfection in Middos • Parshas Noach • Ep. 42

Oct 11, 2018

13:15

The prophet Yeshayahu calls the flood "the waters of Noach," as if Noach himself bore some blame for it. The Sforno says Noach failed, on some level, to teach his generation to know Hashem. What could that mean for a man the Torah calls righteous? Then comes a contradiction in Chazal: "derech eretz comes before Torah," yet we daven that Torah should improve our character. Which comes first, and what happens when a person learns without the basic middos in place? It sheds light on what Torah can and cannot do for us.

180

Connecting to Tisha B'Av A Spiritual Guide • Tisha B'Av • Ep. 29

Jul 21, 2018

7:03

Nobody alive today misses the slaughtering of animals and the blood on the Mizbeach, so how are we meant to mourn the Beis HaMikdash on Tisha B'Av? And why do people read stories of Jewish suffering from other centuries when the day is about the Churban? The Kinos themselves go beyond the destruction, to the Crusades and later. A mashal about an eighteen-year-old who walks out of his parents' house after an argument sets the picture. From there it becomes clear what we actually lost, and how to connect to it.

181

Would You Pass the Boring Test? • Parshas Lech Lecha • Ep. 456

Oct 22, 2026

12:59

Avraham walked out of Nimrod's blazing furnace alive, so why does the Torah never tell the story? Why is one of the biggest miracles of his life hidden inside a place name, while a plain command to pack up and move gets open, detailed pesukim? Rabbi Asaf Prisman brings Rav Frand and the Sam Derech on Avraham's ten tests, and tells the story of a wounded soldier in Lebanon whose friends could not understand why he kept rolling onto his side. A Lech Lecha episode about what the Torah really counts, and where in your own week it may be hiding.

182

The Truly Wealthy Person • Parshas Vayakhel • Ep. 66

Feb 28, 2019

12:16

Why would Moshe open a fundraising appeal for the Mishkan by talking about Shabbos? And why does he say that for six days work "may be done," in the passive, as if it gets done by itself? Rav Shlomo Ganzfried, the author of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, reads the wording as a lesson about our income, and about what it means to be rich. The Chofetz Chaim makes it vivid with a mashal of a bucket of water and a man working very hard to fill it.

183

Win, Win when doing Ratzon Hashem • Parshas Bereishis • Ep. 41

Oct 4, 2018

13:50

Anyone who has done the right thing and watched it cost him has asked this question. Hevel brought the best of his flock and was killed. Kayin brought simple fruit and went on to build a family. Where is the justice in that? The Chasam Sofer asks exactly this on the first story after Bereishis, and the question seems to ignore the whole point of this world. Rabbi Asaf Prisman follows it to a simple rule about doing Hashem's will. A father drags his neighbor to court in Israel, and the judge recognizes him.

184

Bent but Not Broken • Sukkos • Ep. 40

Sep 24, 2018

5:33

A king leaves for a few weeks and hands his most precious possession, a delicate gold pocket watch, to the servant he trusts most. Every day the servant winds it, and every day he can't help playing with the jewels. Then comes one moment, and a tzaddik in a crowded town turns pale. Among the listeners is a man who came only to mock. The parable is about Yom Kippur, and a Midrash about the lulav shows why it leads straight into Sukkos and a very particular kind of happiness.

185

Uniqueness of Sukkos • Sukkos • Ep. 39

Sep 23, 2018

11:55

Sukkos is the only Yom Tov the davening calls "the time of our happiness." Every Yom Tov is supposed to bring simchah, so what makes this one different? Rav Yitzchak Hutner points to the way Sukkos sits in two groups at once, and Rav Emanuel Bernstein connects it to the number of korbanos on Sukkos. A tzaddik arrives in town, and a man comes to mock him. He tells a parable about a king, a precious gold watch and the one he trusted to guard it. The watch matters more than anyone in the room realizes.

186

Peeling Back the Layers • Yom Kippur • Ep. 38

Sep 18, 2018

15:09

Kol Nidre is an annulment of vows, something that could have been said on any day of the year, yet Chazal placed it at the very start of Yom Kippur. Why there? The Torah says Lot moved to Sodom for his crops, while Rashi gives a very different reason, and the gap between the two leads straight back to Kol Nidre. Rav Elchanan Wasserman travels to America to raise money for his yeshiva and visits a childhood friend about a loose button on his suit. What was he really doing there?

187

Sticking to Our Letter • Parshas Vayelech • Ep. 37

Sep 13, 2018

14:57

Every Friday night, a man in prison hears name after name called out at mail time, and his own is called again and again. A prisoner next to him is furious. What does Rabbi Asaf Prisman take from that scene for the days before Yom Kippur? Parshas Vayelech starts with a mitzvah that seems redundant: even a man who inherits his father's sefer Torah must write his own. Why, and what does the Ksav Sofer say about doing mitzvos out of habit? It raises a question for anyone who simply follows the way they were raised.

188

The Two Hats of Rosh Hashanah • Rosh Hashana • Ep. 36

Sep 9, 2018

19:03

Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment, and yet there is almost no vidui and hardly a mention of sin in the davening. The same day is also when we crown Hashem as King, and the Vilna Gaon would jump for joy. Why put two such different themes on one day, and why would a judgment day leave out asking forgiveness? Rabbi Asaf Prisman answers both, then takes a reader's questions about Avraham Avinu and mercy. A family whose children could not find shidduchim, and a noisy construction job upstairs, bring it down to what Hashem is looking for from us.

189

The 3 Big Presents From Hashem • Parshas Ki Savo • Ep. 35

Aug 30, 2018

14:41

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says in Berachos that Hashem gave Yisrael three gifts, and every one of them comes only through hardship. Which three, and what does that say about the hard stretches in our own lives? In Elul, Rabbi Asaf Prisman reads Dovid HaMelech's "one thing I ask" through the Chida, and connects it to why Ki Savo punishes us for serving without simcha. A mother, three children and a smuggler with a gun at the Iranian border make the point vivid.

190

Chessed and boundaries • Parshas Ki Seitzei • Ep. 34

Aug 23, 2018

12:50

Amon and Moav could not join Klal Yisrael for ten generations, and the Torah gives two reasons. One is that they hired Bilam to curse us. The other is that they did not meet us with bread and water. Those two do not seem to weigh the same. The Or HaChaim asks exactly that, and the Ramban looks back to Lot and what Avraham had done for him. A second answer looks at the one midah Lot was known for, and what the Torah expected of his descendants because of it.

191

Impact of Our Actions • Parshas Shoftim • Ep. 33

Aug 16, 2018

11:26

Most of us ask whether what we're doing is permitted. Few of us ask what the person watching will take from it. In Parshas Shoftim, the officers tell a frightened soldier to go home before the battle, and the reason has nothing to do with his own safety. Why should one man's fear matter that much, and what does it say about our own responsibility for the people around us? A boy walks into a yeshiva lunchroom, and one small moment with a cup of coffee decides his whole future.

192

Achas Sha'alti Me'is Hashem • Elul • Ep. 32

Aug 11, 2018

16:40

Dovid HaMelech was chased by Shaul, rebelled against by Avshalom, and carried a whole nation on his mind, yet in the Elul Tehillim he says he asks Hashem for "one thing," and then repeats himself in the same breath. Why the repetition, and why only one request? The Chida finds the answer hiding in a single word, tied to a Gemara in Berachos about three gifts. Along the way, a family flees Iran in 1979 with a smuggler who seems cruel beyond reason. It is a question about what we are asking for as Rosh Hashanah approaches.

193

100 Blessings a Day • Parshas Eikev • Ep. 31

Aug 2, 2018

12:56

What is Hashem really asking of us, and why did Chazal read the word "mah" as "me'ah," a hundred? What does reciting a hundred blessings a day have to do with fear of Hashem, and why a hundred, not eighty or a hundred and twenty? Rabbi Asaf Prisman brings a question of the Divrei Yoel on a Gemara in Menachos. Then come a stitched-up foot after a family trip to the Kinneret and a watch that fell in the street, two small moments that carry the whole idea.

194

Self Worth • Parshas Vaeschanan • Ep. 30

Jul 26, 2018

15:20

Chazal pair the first five commandments with the second five: Anochi with "do not murder," and the second with "do not commit adultery." The pairs make sense until you reach honoring parents and "do not covet." What could those two possibly share? In Parshas Vaeschanan, Rabbi Asaf Prisman offers an answer that touches how we see ourselves, and how that shapes what we want from others. A story about a happy shoemaker and a king who walks the streets in disguise is a good one for the Shabbos table.

195

In the Eyes of Hashem and Man • Parshas Matos • Ep. 28

Jul 12, 2018

14:29

Gad and Reuven come to Moshe and recite a list of cities, and Moshe says nothing. They add that the land is green and their herds are large, and he is still silent. Only when they spell out their request does he answer. Why the hinting, and why did Moshe care how it looked even though they meant well? In Parshas Matos, being right in Hashem's eyes comes with a second requirement. Rabbi Asaf Prisman ends with a hall booked for a wedding, friends who stopped giving, and a surprise.

196

Partnering with Hashem • Parshas Pinchas • Ep. 27

Jul 5, 2018

15:06

If Hashem loves the poor, why doesn't He take care of them Himself? Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva exactly that, and the answer in Bava Basra connects to Pinchas, whom Rashi says was rewarded because he acted for Hashem when Hashem was angry. Rav Moshe Feinstein finds a principle there that reaches tzedakah, learning Torah and Milah. Rabbi Asaf Prisman ends with a young avreich, a growing family and a registered letter from a court that arrived at an odd time.

197

Using the Opportunities We Have • Parshas Balak • Ep. 26

Jun 28, 2018

12:21

Bilaam stands on the road with his donkey, and the donkey tells him he needs a sword to kill even her, so how will he destroy a nation with his mouth? The Midrash Tanchuma says he had no answer. Why not? And why would Balak ask for a curse instead of just blessing Moav? The Navi in Michah, recalling the places Bnei Yisrael passed, holds a hint. Rabbi Asaf Prisman ties the donkey, the curse and one small mitzvah into a message for anyone who can't always do what they planned.

198

True Reasoning of Mitzvos • Parshas Chukas • Ep. 25

Jun 21, 2018

13:08

Parshas Chukas calls the Parah Adumah "Chukas HaTorah," the law of the Torah, when we would expect the law of the Parah. Shlomo HaMelech worked to understand its reasons and gave up, yet a Gemara in Sanhedrin says it was knowing the reasons that led him to sin. Why would his admission be that he thought he understood, rather than that he trusted himself too much? And why does the Gemara silence someone who prays "have mercy on us as You do on the mother bird"? Food and its taste hold the thread.

199

Korach: True Oved Hashem • Parshas Korach • Ep. 24

Jun 14, 2018

12:32

Korach's two hundred and fifty men were warned that the earth would swallow the rebels, and they went ahead anyway. Rashi asks whether they were fools and answers that they "sinned with their souls," which sounds like it answers nothing. The Netziv notices that the two groups are mentioned separately and die differently, one by fire and one by the earth. What does that tell us about their motives? Rabbi Asaf Prisman adds a mashal of a king, a loyal servant and an offer too good to refuse.

200

Positive Attitude • Parshas Shelach • Ep. 23

Jun 7, 2018

14:54

At a seudas hoda'ah, a young man who was given no chance of surviving stands up and thanks one doctor at the table for something he heard from his hospital bed six years earlier. Then the doctor stands up to answer him. It is the closing story for Parshas Shelach. The Torah uses three different words for the spying: Vayaturu, Vayachperu and Vayiraglu. Why three, and why does the Kli Yakar say each one fits a different mindset? The same land and the same mission led to very different outcomes, depending on how the people walked in.

Prism of Torah

Prism of Torah

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