Parshas Mattos begins with a survey of the laws of oaths addressed to the tribal leaders.  Why specifically the tribal leaders? While Mattos may begin with the laws of oaths and vows, it concludes with the leaders of two tribes requesting that they settle the other side of the Jordan and committing to go and fight with the other tribes until they succeed in their wars.  Both times a similar phrasing "kol hayotze mepif taaseh" "that which comes from your mouth you shall do" is used.  But while Avraham bound Eliezer and Yaakov bound Yosef with oaths, Moshe asks no oath of them. He simply tells them that they must keep their word and that there will be consequences if they do not. Indeed there are two tragic oaths that will later follow, by Yiftah, who vows to sacrifice whatever comes to meet him on his return home, and Shaul, who vows that he will kill anyone who breaks his pledge to eat nothing until the enemy is defeated only to have his son Yonatan unknowingly eat ...

Parshas Beha'alotcha begins with the command to light the menorah. It ends with us being told that Moshe was the humblest man who ever lived. What is the connection between the two? In the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple, the windows were narrow on the inside and widened on the outside because the temple did not need the light of the menorah, the world needed that light. So too a modest man is narrow on the inside and wide on the outside, making himself small so that his light shines forth. In contrast, an arrogant man is wide on the inside, convinced of his own genius, but narrow on the outside, so that little light from him reaches the rest of the world. It was Moshe's humility, like the narrow windows of the temple that funnel the light of the Menorah to the world, that made him such an enduring influence. While modern society preaches self-esteem, Moshe's lack of it often caused leadership problems, yet made him shine so brightly that he had to wear a mask to hide his l...

Parshas Vayeshev seems to start out following a very familiar narrative. The good brother and the bad ones. A father who doesn't quite seem to know what's going and sibling rivalry that escalates into a conflict between good and evil and will serve to define a nation. And yet, unlike Yishmael and Esav, all of the brothers remain as the founders of the Jewish Nation. Why is that? Once the brothers have kidnapped and sold Yosef into slavery, shouldn't they have been cast out as a lost cause the way that Esav and Yishmael were? How is that reconciliation proved possible here and not in the past? To start with, it helps to look at what's missing. G-d. None of the brothers mention G-d in Parshas Vayeshev at all. Nor does Yosef mention G-d until he refuses the demand of Potiphar's wife and at the very end where he is given the opportunity to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh's servants. After Yehuda has masterminded the sale of Yosef, both brothers go into exi...