The plague was just stopped by the zealousness of Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron, when he killed a prince of Israel who was with a Midianite woman (also of high birth) and blatantly showing disdain and rebellion against Moses’s command to not have any relations (especially physical ones) with the
I have often heard people say that the Kingdom of God is here, it just hasn’t arrived yet. I like the sound of that statement because it offers hope in two ways: first, we can be hopeful because the kingdom is here and second, those who aren’t yet members of
What is the worst sin of all of them? The Torah has 613 commandments, regulations and ordinances, so with all of those rules there would be (at least) 613 sins we can commit. Of course, being the inventive and ambitious species we are, I am certain that humanity has found
Here we have one of the more celebrated stories of the Bible. I expect most readers know the story: Balak, the king of the Moabites, calls upon Balaam, who is a well-known sorcerer and diviner, to curse the Israelites so as to protect Balak’s kingdom. Balaam, however, is also a
I am attending a Bible study on the Prophets and prophecy. It is a short study, just during the summer, and already I am learning new things. One of the things I enjoy about this class is how it brings out that the prophets always left us with God’s promise
God just never seems to run out of good stuff, does He? He sends blessings down, He sends the rain, He provides for us financially, emotionally, and even physically. He has enough patience to fill a bottomless hole, and when He gives us all these wonderful things, what He really
Where do I even start? The Red Heifer rules? The death of Miriam? The death of Aaron? The defeat of Sihon and Og? What about the incident at Meribah, which made God so angry with Moses and Aaron that He refused to let them enter the Land? And the snakes,
My undergraduate degree is in History, and one of the things we historians say is that history tends to repeat itself. This is (usually) because people don’t know their own history, so when the same types of events that caused one historical tragedy begin to coalesce once more, people can’t
Before I was concerned about what God would think I would not slow down or think about what I said when reacting to something that bothered me. My boss just sent a response to a customer apologizing for how things were handled, and I was the one handling it, and
This parashah starts with Korach, a Levite, coming together with Dathan and Abiram (both from the tribe of Reuben) against Moshe and Aaron, especially Moshe. They accuse Moshe of going too far and placing himself above them. Korach has organized another 250 men who stand with him. When Moshe hears