This week’s Torah reading, Parshat Ki Tisa, begins with a very strange admonishment by God: “When you take a census of the B’nei Yisrael, each man shall give Hashem an atonement for his soul so there will not be a plague among them when counting them.” Why do they need to make atonement or be punished with a plague?

This week’s Torah reading, Tetzaveh, spends a great deal of time describing the details of the priestly clothes, בגדי כהונה. Why does the Torah insist on specific materials, measurements, and design in the priestly clothes? On reflection, we learn something important from the Torah’s insistence. In service to God, we must only focus on that which is true and eternal.

Parshat Yitro contains the most widely known section of all biblical verses. They are commonly referred to as the 10 Commandments although Talmudic analysis clearly demonstrates that they contain more than 10 commands or mitzvot. The Torah accurately uses the term עשרת הדברת or “10 Statements,” and as Rav Saadia Gaon explains, they are the 10 broad and general categories under which every one of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah falls.