Rabbi Milstein picks up the story with Moses being sent to demand the Children of Israel's release from bondage. In response, Pharaoh doubles their torturous workload. In pain over the terrible blow to his beloved people, Moses questions God's justice. From where did Moses' question stem, and how does God's rebuke help us understand the age-old question 'why do bad things happen to good people?'
In a rare moment of open Divine intervention, God tells Moses that he hardened Pharaoh's heart. On one hand Rabbi Milstein lauds the incomparable gift of free will, but he also questions whether this empowering strength might feel so heavy at times that we'd rather just shirk the responsibility. Hear a talk of immense personal importance.
The splitting of the sea and our rescue from the Egyptian army was one of the most dramatic moments we experienced as a people. Rabbi Milstein wonders why G-d didn't lead the Jews out of Egypt along the main highway, as well as why it was necessary for the Jews to be lead by both a pillar of clouds, and fire. How could Moses lie and tell Pharoah the Jews were only leaving for three days? And why didn't the sea want to split? Hear the full story behind the story, and the life lessons we learn from it.
Yisro was terribly confused by two news items that reached him regarding the Jewish people. The first was G-d's all powerful strength in ushering the Jews out of Egypt, and the second was about how vulnerable the Jewish nation was against the Amalekites - which seems to show a chink in G-d's total control. Hear how Moses was able to bridge Yisro's disparate ideas, as well as teach us the enormous amount we can accomplish if only our goals were united.
The ancient code of Torah civil law and morality was way ahead of itåÕs time in protecting human rights, and continues to be relevant and vibrant as ever. Find out how to make peace with a number of archaic sounding laws such as åÒan eye for an eyeåÓ and other puzzling phrases along the same lines. Rabbi Milstein also spices this weekåÕs portion with how moral our lawmakers need to be, and the subject of lending money with interest.
During the early days of the Jewish Nation when anyone spoke derogatorily against another his skin would erupt into a striking visible leprosy, that displayed all the spiritual damage he had caused. The process to rectify his leprosy was similarly striking. A powerful class on the tongue's ability to build the fabric of your life - or to weaken it.
Did Aaron’s ability to lift up thousands of Cohanim in one day testify to his incredible strength? Maybe his strength wasn't due to his muscles but to his will power of focusing on achieving this superhuman feat. The rabbi's assure us that we also have this energy to achieve our higher goals. The question then asked is ’why do we lack the drive if the outcome will be what we are dreaming for?’
In a painful segment of Jewish history, spies were sent to the Land of Israel, and returned with a very negative report. The people's reaction caused them to lose the chance to ever enter Israel. Rabbi Milstein dissects the episode to find the virus of dissatisfaction in life that is lurking within a person's general outlook.
Great men have suffered steep downfalls throughout history. So what drove Korach, who was a recognized spiritual giant, to dispute Aaron and Moshe's divinely authorized leadership? Hear the deeper layers of what 'givers' and 'takers' are, and how Korach's desire to want everything on his own terms left him with nothing.
Some Divine decrees were given, but how come reasons were not given for the rational mitzvot? Are we really expected to do things we don't understand? Hear an interesting discussion on this thorny issue plus other insights from the weekly parsha - such as when the wandering Jews encountered the greatest non-Jewish prophet, Bilaam, and his multiple attempts to curse them in the desert.