Hiatus

Hello,

Unfortunately, I need to take a hiatus from the Daily Torah Thought for a week or so, due to obligations elsewhere. I hope to return some time next week.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Gd will favour you in Jerusalem

Hi,

"For a nation will be in Zion, will dwell in Jerusalem. She will not cry; G-d will favour you at the sound of your cry; when He hears you, He will respond to you."

(Yeshayah 30:19)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Take me, not them!

Hi,

"Rabbi Yonatan said: Yonah only went to destroy himself in the sea, as it is written, 'Pick me up and throw me into the sea.' You will find the same behavior by our ancestors and prophets, who gave themselves for the Jewish people.

"What does it say regarding Moshe? 'And now, if You will bear their sins, fine. But if You will not bear their sins then erase me from the book You have written. (Exodus 32)'…

"What does it say regarding David? 'I have sinned, and I have been crooked, but what have these sheep done? May Your hand be against me and my family (Samuel II 24).'"

(Midrash, Mechilta Bo)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Wealth without work?

Hi,

"Man is born to strain with his hands, and through his work to bring his bread. One who produces wealth without work is just producing struggle and corruption, and it will not grow and endure in the hands of his children."

(Malbim to Job 5:7)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Avraham vs. Job

Hi,

What differences do you see between Avraham's declaration below, and Job's?

"Rabbi Levi said: Two men said the same thing, Avraham and Job. 

"Avraham said (Bereishit 18:25, regarding the destruction of Sodom), 'It would be a disgrace for You to do something like this, to kill the righteous with the wicked.'

"Job said (Job 9:22), 'It is all one, thus I have said: Complete and wicked, he destroys.'

"But Avraham was rewarded, and Job was punished! For Avraham said something mature; Job said something underripe."

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 49:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Parents vs. Gd

Hi,

"How do we know that if one's father says to him, 'Become impure [to retrieve a lost object]' or 'Do not return [a lost object]', one should not listen? Leviticus 19:3 says, 'You should revere your mother and father, and you shall guard my Sabbaths; I am G-d.' All of you are obligated in My honour."

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 32a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Don't be cruel

Hi,

"Someone bought land beside his father's land. When it came time to divide up [his father's estate], he requested [of the other heirs], 'Give me my portion along my existing boundary.' 

"Rabbah said: In a case like this [if the heirs refused the request out of spite], we would compel the heirs not to act as Sodom."

(Talmud, Bava Batra 12b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why ask why?

Hi,

"One should be content and not have his thoughts confused, seeking that [ultimate] purpose, or seeking the purpose of that which has no purpose other than its own existence, which is by Divine desire – or Divine wisdom, if you prefer."

(Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai