After the flood, Noach, his family and all the animals that were with him on the Ark were told to leave it and resume their existence on the earth. The Torah records that Noach first offers sacrifices to Hashem in gratitude for saving him and his family. Next we see Noach planting vineyards. What results helps us learn important lessons about the difference between etiquette and ethical behavior.
As we begin the annual cycle of reading the Torah, it is most important to understand that the written Torah, also know as the Five Books of Moshe or Chumash, actually came after the Oral Law (Torah She-Ba’al Peh). In fact, the Torah was not completed (according to Rashi) or even started (according to Maimonides) before the last month of Moshe’s life forty years after the Revelation at Mt Sinai. The great 19th century German rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch used the following analogy: the Torah is to the Oral Law as notes are to attending a full lecture.
The Hebrew month of Tishrei is chock full of holidays, Yomim Tovim, each with their own unique and specifically mandated mitzvot. The goal of these special mitzvoth is to ingrain in us ideas that are necessary for human perfection. But the Torah has no unique mitzvah for us to perform on Shemini Atzeret,which we will celebrate on Monday. Why?
“Give ear, O’ heavens and I will speak; and may the earth hear the words of my mouth.” In this opening line of Parshat Ha’azinu, Moses calls the heavens and earth to serve as witnesses against Israel when we sin and to testify in favor of Israel when we follow the Torah.
Yom Kippur is truly a remarkable day. Classified as one of our special days, a Yom Tov, designed to cause us think about a specific concept in our relationship with God.
Jewish people from around the world greet each other at various times of the year with special customary greetings. On Rosh Hashanah everyone knows that we say some version of “Shanah Tovah” (“May you have a good year”). However, this Rosh Hashanah greeting is different from all the rest. It is more than just the appropriate holiday or seasonal greeting; it has a special and unique halakhic significance.
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