Explore every episode of the podcast Shlomo's Thoughts on the Torah

The first thing that a priest serving in the Tabernacle did in the morning was to clean out the ashes from the Menorah. This was a dirty job, Aaron would look forward to doing it every morning.

It is interesting that the Torah refers to Passover as the Holiday of Matzoth. We have to remember that the goal was to get Egypt out of the Jews. The Egyptians had inventing leavening.

When we put the three main holidays in an American historical perspective we can understand them even better.

The Torah states that we have to give an offering for an accidental sin. One of the reasons for this would teach us that while we did it by accident, we are still responsible for our actions.

More than we keeping our rituals, our rituals keep us. If we did not keep the rituals, we would not have become better people. That is what makes us special.

Ritual is important. The Book of Leviticus deals with the ritual of the Tabernacle and the bringing of sacrifices. But if it is not tied to morality, it is meaningless.

Untrue to popular belief, Nisan is the first month of the Jewish year. The holiday of Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of man. Nisan is the anniversary of the creation of the Jewish nation.

The Prophetic reading for this week speaks to the future building of the 3rd Temple. For Jews the way to change the world and bring the Messianic age is to do more commandments and express our loving kindness toward others.

The preparation for Passover begins in the first week of Adar, a month an a half before Passover. That is when we begin reading the Four Portions. Each has a meaning for the holiday that we are about to celebrate.

All temples seem to look the same. The Temple in Jerusalem was in many ways not different. But when we look behind the scenes, we find a start difference. The Temple in Jerusalem was built to honor am ethical and moral God. The others were not.

The purpose of the Tabernacle was to bring the concept of God to the people. God is always with us but we need a concrete example of His presence.

The Torah stresses that there was an audit of donations to the Tabernacle. This is to teach us that those in an office of public trust must be open to an audit at all times.

Most of the commandments in the Torah are easy to understand. There are a few that we do not understand the reasoning, But we have to obey them all since God is beyond our comprehension.

Hiram of Tyre was chosen to be in charge of building the Temple. He came from a low status, but he was chosen due to his wisdom and ability. This teaches us that we should earn honor through merit.

One of the purposes of the Tabernacle was to create community among the Jews. Once people see themselves as a community then they will take care of each other.

Bezalel was chosen to build the Tabernacle because of his wisdom and humility. He knew that Oholiab had abilities that he did not and that he had abilities that Oholiab did not. But together they could do a great job.

In this week's Torah portion donations were given to the Tabernacle. The donations were so great that Moses had more than enough. This is a trait of a Torah based society that they are willing to give more than is necessary. This is why the Torah places limits on how much one can give.

The Torah emphasizes the importance of keeping the Shabbat. When we read what is prohibited to do on Shabbat realize that there is something much deeper than just not working.

Haman was the most powerful man in the world during the story of Purim. But he could not get over the fact that Mordecai knew that he really was nothing. Haman was full of hubris and that was his downfall.

It is clear in the Megillah that God is directing the action. While He is not mentioned explicitly, we can see His hand in the action.

The reason that we do not say Hallel on Purim is that the status of Jews did not change in the story. They were subjects of Achashverosh at the beginning of the story and at the end. The only thing that changed was that they survived.

Mordechai could have bowed to Haman. But he knew that would be wrong thing to do at that time. We learn from this that we are obligated to stand up to evil.

The episode of the Golden Calf is amazing. These were witnesses to the actual Exodus, they crossed the Sea of Reeds. They were at Mount Sinai. Yet they built an idol to worship. It should be remembered that the hard part was to get Egypt out of the Jews.

Bezalel was chosen to design the Tabernacle. First it was due to his wisdom. But more importantly it was it was due to his humility. He would any job that needed to be done, no matter how lowly.

The Torah commands that each Jewish man give a half shekel for the maintenance of the Tabernacle. The fact that it is a half and not a whole emphasizes that in order to be able to attain holiness we need a community. We cannot do it alone.

Today is the anniversary of Moses's passing. He was the ultimate leader. He knew when to stand up and when to not stand. Interestingly, he is not mentioned in this week's reading, this shows his humility.

The Torah speaks of the High Priest, the incense, and the Eternal Light. This symbolizes the Jewish people in that we will be eternal, we care for all Jews and that we are made up of many different people with different opinions.

The lesson of the importance of the High Preist is that we are all responsible for one another. Just as the High Preist is responsible for an accidental death so, too, we come together in times of crises.

The Torah specifies how a Priest should be dressed while serving in the Tabernacle. The Priest should be aware of the importance of his duty and that he represents God to the people and the people to God.

The lesson that the Torah is conveying by the daily attention paid to the Eternal Light is that even if an action is routine, you should do it.

The greatness of Moses was his humility. He understood that he was in his office, not because of his ancestry or title but because he had a mission. He served the Jewish people. He did not expect them to serve him.

Purim is in the middle of the month of Adar. There we learn that, even though God is not motioned by name in the Book of Esther, He is guiding all the events. So, too, in our lives.

The Torah makes a point that we can make a place holy by our actions there. No matter how a place was used previously, our actions in that place can bring holiness to it.

The real purpose of what the Tabernacle means.

The Torah places emphases on the objects to be used in the Tabernacle. Teaching us that how we use object will determine their holiness. We can make the mundane holy through our actions.

In this week's portion God informs the Jewish people that they should be God a home so that He can dwell among them. To teach us that when we perform the ritual with loving kindness, we are bringing God into the world.

The Tabernacle was built by donations. This teaches us that a spiritual building needs the financial and physical support of the community it serves.

We do not celebrate the death of our enemies. But we are not allowed to tolerate their evil. In the words of President Truman, "When dealing with a beast, treat them like a beast."

To have a just society we have to live a just life. This is why the Torah first covers how we behave individually and then proceeds to society in general.

According to the Torah we are all responsible for our actions. Our social or economic status, rich or poor, famous or not, does not protect us from punishment for committing an offense.

The Torah concept of justice is that the victim has to be made whole by the perpetrator. It is not enough that the perpetrator has to be punished for his misdeed, but he is responsible to his victim.

The Torah is opposed to slavery since a slave cannot perform all the commandments. A free man is responsible for his actions while a slave is not. A slave has no free will, but a free man does.

While showing the importance of ritual laws, the Torah emphasizes that social laws are as important, if not more so. That we can do ritual correctly but if we mistreat one another socially then it does not matter.

The commandment against stealing is against kidnapping. This is a capital offense in Jewish law. It is especially heinous when done is God's name. That is also taking God's name in vain. Two capital offenses in one.

Tu B'shvat reminds us that it is our duty to build the land. The way we claim the land is to build it up and be built by it. Our enemies claim the land but can only destroy. They seem incapable of building. That is the difference.

The Fifth Commandment states that we should honor our parents. This command is for the rest of our lives. The concept of honoring our parents is the foundation of society. Without it society would fall apart.

Taking God's name in vain does not only have to do with using God's name inappropriately in speech but also committing acts of evil in God's name.

God took us out of Egyptian slavery for a purpose. To show the world that it should be moral. That is why the 10 Commandments start with "I am the Lord your God Who took you out of Egypt." I have a reason for that event.

Jethro comes to visit Moses, and gives him advise on how to delegate. This teaches us that we do not have all the wisdom in the world.

The commandment to destroy all of Amalek is unique. We are not commanded to destroy another nation. The reason could be that Amalek had no reason to attack the Jews & was against the moral compass that the Jews were about to receive.