This week’s parsha highlights the death of Aharon’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu, when they brought a strange fire before Hashem. (Vayikra 10:1). Despite the loss of their sons and brothers, Moshe commanded Aharon and his two remaining sons, Elazar and Ithamar, to carry on with their duties with the inauguration of the Mishkan. This command led to a dispute between Moshe and the Cohanim. As mourners, Aharon, Elazar and Ithamar burned the he-goat of the sin-offering, and did not

The Haggadah of Pesach tells us that “Rabban Gamliel used to say: Whoever has not explained the following three things on Passover has not fulfilled his duty, namely: Pesach – the Passover Offering; Matzah – the Unleavened Bread; Maror – the Bitter Herbs.” This is puzzling. The Torah generally does not reveal the reasons for the mitzvos. Hashem’s mitzvos are multi-faceted, with many layers of understanding underlying each mitzvah. Indeed, the Torah itself does not reveal the

The Pesach Haggadah highlights four sons: the wise son, the wicked son, the simple son, and the one who does not even know how to ask a question. These four sons parallel the four sons who are depicted in various places in the Torah. Each son, except for the one who cannot formulate a question, engages with the Pesach experience by asking about it. Yet the wicked son poses a particularly provocative question: “What is this service to you?” By the nature of the wording, the wi

At the beginning of Sefer Vayikra, the Torah details the various ways one can bring a burnt offering (עולה). The Torah begins with offerings from cattle (Vayikra 1:3), sheep or goats (1:10), birds (1:14), and finally flour (2:1). For each of the first three sacrifices, the Torah says: “If one’s offering is from…” and then specifies the animal. However, with the flour meal-offering (מנחה), the Torah says: “When a soul (נפש) offers a meal-offering to Hashem.” (Ibid. 2:1). Why d