Parsha Pick-Me-Up

How do the Children of Chet know that Avraham is a holy man? They are not privy to his prophecies, and there are many wealthy warlords who no one would confuse for a man of God. So what makes Avraham different?

Why did Hashem choose Avraham?

It’s not really a mystery: God tells us Himself in this week’s torah portion. As Hashem says “because I know him, since he will command his children and his household after him and they will keep the path of Hashem, to do righteousness and justice.”

Yet, we may struggle to find an instance where this actually occurred! When does Avraham teach his children what to do?

Avraham will receive the Land of Canaan as a gift... if he takes a walk first. Why is that so important?

Why not send the raven again?

We tend to think that after the flood, Noah first attempted to send a raven to explore the dry land before he sent a dove to do the job.

But there is something essential missing from this picture and most translations do not convey the passage accurately.

Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

What type of inheritance is this? What is the import of this idea? The Midrash Tannaim gives us the following most beautiful explanation, just in time to begin again.

We can ruin easily ruin our prayers, say the Sages. How, why, and how to avoid this problem addressed in brief in the Parsha Pick-Me-Up.

What is the last thing you’d like to eat before you die? What, indeed, do we want to do before we die? How would we spend today, if we knew we were in our final hours?

How do we find joy? Apparently we can find it after we bring the first fruits. A simple secret is once again taught by our tradition.

It is odd that he takes such a strong stand against vows. Is it really so bad to promise our children we will make the play, our spouse that we will take that vacation, our boss that we will make the meeting, and so on?

Yes, Rav Dimi says. Take five minutes to listen to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn why.

Why is it so important to respect borders and boundaries?

We begin with regular old fences. But there's a lot more there and all of our relationships are impacted by this teaching.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Sari and Scott Garfinkle in memory of Zev David ben Shlomo z’l

Sources: Sifri 188, Midrash Aggadah (Buber) Deut. 19, Lev. 19:10, Mishnah Peah 7:3, MT Gifts to the Poor 4:15, Proverbs 22:28, Yalkut Shimoni Deut. 19