Ki Teitzei

In Parshat Ki Teitzei we find the command,
To remember the nation of Amalek who laid a hand,
On the Jewish people when they left the Egyptian land,
To wipe them out, Hashem does demand.

The nation of Amalek was cruel,
The fear of the other nation's they did cool,
When everyone was in awe of the Jews,
To be the first to fight us they did choose.

To a boiling hot bathtub the Jews did compare,
To jump inside no one would dare,
To get burned Amalek didn't care,
They cooled off the water for the other nations everywhere.

״אשר קרך בדרך״ he met you on the way,
In the word קרך/met we see the word קר/cold right away,
Although this happened in days of old,
We each have an inner Amalek to fight we are told.

You wake up in the morning and say,
Today will be better than yesterday,
But then something doesn't go your way,
The Amalek within has a role to play.

Who do you think you are?
You will never get very far,
Amalek puts doubt in your heart,
He cools you off before you start.

The numerical equivalence of the word עמלק/Amalek,
Equals to the numerical equivalence of the word doubt/ספק/Safek,
When you are inspired to do something right,
Don't let the doubts creep in, hold on tight!

Although fear and doubt are above logic and reason,
We can fight it no matter what the season,
Because we have a power that is above logic too,
It is our faith in Hashem, an inheritance for every Jew.

The word זכור/remember holds the key,
To fight Amalek for all eternity,
Remember the faith that may lie buried and forgotten,
And reveal it in the open.

Faith in Hashem isn't something new,
It is a treasure within every Jew,
Because it is above logic and reason too,
It is the perfect weapon to fight the Amalek within me and you.

Souvenir: reusable ice cubes

Parshat Shoftim

When you fight your enemies,
Don't cut down any fruit trees,
Because to a tree of the field, man does compare,
In Parshat Shoftim, the Torah makes this clear.

Just like the roots of a tree are hidden underground,
At our core, our faith can always be found,
Trees need to always be connected to the soil to grow,
When we do a Mitzvah our attachment to Hashem we show.

From the roots stem the trunk of understanding,
Which branches out into feelings and deeds that are always expanding,
Producing delicious fruit is the ultimate goal,
To influence others and plant a seed in their soul.

Earth, water, sun and air are elements four,
They help the tree grow more and more,
There is a lesson for us to explore,
About how to educate our children and grow stronger than before.

From the earth the tree gets it's nutrients,
Representing nurture, values and guidance,
Nourishment, parents and teachers can shower,
Their children and students they can empower.

Water keeps plants and trees alive,
Without the Torah we can't survive,
A tree needs light and warmth radiated by the sun,
Children need to see that Judaism is full of beauty, love and fun!

Air represents our environment and atmosphere,
We have to be careful with what we see and hear,
So take a moment and gaze at a tree,
It is a reflection of you and me.

Souvenir: toy tree

Parshat Re'eh

If a fish is kosher how do we know?
The fins and scales are the signs that show,
That the fish is fit for every Jew,
For breakfast, lunch or supper too.

The Talmud does say,
That there is no way,
For a fish with scales to have no fins,
The kosher status it surely wins!

So why does the Torah mention fins in the first place?
To help us with the decisions that we face,
When we are in the money making race,
At home or in our work place.

From the fins and scales we can learn,
About how a living we should earn,
Fins represent ambition which is necessary,
In order for the fish to move forward quickly.

But ambition is dangerous without direction,
We must have scales that give protection,
Yes, there are many things to do,
But to our values we must stay true.

Our values keep us strong,
So we won't go wrong,
Scales are as important as can be,
With scales, fins come naturally.

The lessons from the kosher signs of a fish are clear,
When to the Torah and Mitzvot we adhere,
We won't lose out,
We will be successful without a doubt.

Souvenir: fish toy

Parshat Eikev

The Torah portion of Eikev does begin,
With the words, "If you will listen,"
To say "If," why does the Torah choose,
A unique word like Eikev, to use?

The word Eikev does contain,
A second meaning, Rashi does explain,
Eikev is a heel, in our bodies it is the lowest part,
We use it to trample over things that we don't take to heart.

If the Mitzvot that we trample with our feet, we will keep,
The rewards and benefits, from Hashem, we will reap,
What type of Mitzvah would seem insignificant to you and me,
That would go into the "heel" category?

There are some Mitzvot that we can understand,
Our intellect motivates us to fulfill this type of command,
There are other Mitzvot that make us feel good,
We fulfill them because our heart tells us that we should.

Lastly, there are Mitzvot of a different kind,
We don't do them because of our heart or mind,
We fulfill them because they are the will of Hashem,
Even though our mind and heart tell us to trample over them.

How can we fulfill these Mitzvot you may ask,
To make ourselves humble before Hashem is our task,
As humble as a person might be,
An animal has total humility.

On Rosh Hashana, the Shofar we blow,
Our total humility to Hashem we show,
Therefore although a different horn may sound nice,
Only a ram's horn does suffice.

Souvenir:

Parshat Va'etchanan

From when Hashem appeared in the burning bush of fire,
To enter the land of Israel was Moshe's greatest desire,
But Moshe did not get his way,
In the desert he did pass away.

Hashem said that for Moshe to hit the rock was a sin,
Therefore into the land, he would not be let in,
For a sin so small,
It doesn't seem fair at all!

When the Jews sinned with the golden calf,
Moshe saved the Jews by praying on their behalf,
Why didn't Hashem answer Moshe's prayers now, and wipe his tears,
For his faithfulness and dedication for forty years?

After Moshe liberated us from slavery,
Forever we became spiritually free,
Even when our enemies were in control,
They had no power over our soul.

The Torah that Moshe taught, we still learn today,
The Tabernacle's vessels weren't destroyed, only hidden away,
Everything that Moshe accomplished was eternal and everlasting,
Therefore, Hashem couldn't fulfill what Moshe was asking.

If Moshe were to enter, the Jews could never leave,
To elevate the entire world we could never achieve,
If Moshe would have been given permission,
There would be no continuation to fulfilling our mission.

Going into Israel was only the beginning of our journey,
Hashem didn't want it to be the end of our history,
Going into exile would be no fun,
But great challenges we would overcome!

Moshe's 515 prayers were not in vain,
Permission to see the land, he did obtain,
Moshe's ability to see,
Was given to us for all eternity.

Even when faced with tragedy,
The future redemption is a reality,
Our hope and our faith is as strong as can be,
Because our souls, have the power to see!

Souvenir: binoculars

Parshat Devarim

Devarim, is the name of the Torah portion,
Where Moshe's farewell address does begin,
For the last five weeks before Moshe passed away,
He taught the Jews Torah all day.

Why was this time different than all the rest,
To study Torah for forty years they did their best,
The Torah says, that Moshe gave a באר״ CLARIFICATION,״
The commentator, Rashi, has an interesting interpretation.

Into seventy languages, Moshe did translate,
The entire Torah for five weeks straight,
Rashi usually gives us the simple explanation,
From where does Rashi get this information?

Rashi learns this from a future conversation,
In Parshat Ki Tavo, with the Jewish nation,
The Jews would enter the land shortly,
Moshe asked that they fulfill his legacy.

On twelve large rocks, Moshe specified,
In 70 languages, the Torah should be inscribed,
In a manner that would be "WELL CLARIFIED,"
It would take a miracle, as hard as they tried.

The words "WELL CLARIFIED," are mentioned there,
The word "CLARIFICATION" is mentioned here,
We learn from one verse how to explain another,
When we study Torah, there is so much to discover.

How could the Jewish people benefit or grow,
From hearing the Torah in languages that they did not know?
Moshe knew that entering Israel, wouldn't be the end of our journey,
We would be exiled and dispersed in every country.

Moshe knew that it was necessary,
To translate the Torah into every language there could be,
So that no Jew could ever say that the Torah isn't relevant to me,
Moshe made the Torah accessible in every language for you and me!

*Bonus*

In the word "HEITEV/ היטב," which means "WELL (clarified)" we see,
A hint to the number seventy,
Every letter in the Alef Bet,
A different number it does represent.

The letter א׳ equals one, ב׳ is two, ג׳ is three,
Can you count with me?
The letter ה׳ is five, ט׳ is nine and י׳ is ten,
Can you do it again?

From the word היטב, you will get a total of seventy for sure,
If you add the value of each letter with the letters that come before,
The letter ה׳ equals five, ה׳ plus י׳ equals fifteen,
Do you see what I mean?

The letters ה׳ plus י׳ plus ט׳ equals twenty four,
The letters ה׳ plus י׳ plus ט׳ plus ב׳ equals two more.
Add five, fifteen, twenty four, and twenty six, and you will see,
That the sum will be a total of seventy!

Souvenir:

Parshat Masei

In Parshat Masei it does say,
That if a person killed by mistake he can run away,
To a city of refuge where he wouldn't have to worry,
From relatives who would want to take revenge in a hurry.

Every community had the responsibility,
To make sure the signs were marked clearly,
So that a person who was running away,
Would have an easy time finding the way.

There are 613 Mitzvot in all,
For winter, spring, summer or fall,
Some Mitzvot only apply when the Beit Hamikdash did stand,
Other Mitzvot only apply in the holy land.

Some Mitzvot, only apply to men,
Other Mitzvot were given to women,
But there are 6 Mitzvot that are unique,
They apply to every Jew, in every place, every day of the week.

When we sin by mistake, we also need to run,
To a city of refuge, until we become,
Connected to Hashem once more,
The gates of Teshuvah are always open for sure.

Six cities the Torah does mention,
Six spiritual cities, strengthens our connection,
To be close to Hashem is our intention,
The cities of refuge are a place for introspection.

The 6 spiritual cities are,
6 constant Mitzvot, that accompany us wether we are near or far,
To believe in Hashem and fear him too,
To love Hashem, because He loves me and you!

So if you ever fall don't despair,
Hashem is truly everywhere,
Although it sometimes seems that Hashem does hide,
He is really always at your side.

When you keep this in mind,
You will find,
A sense of security,
You will feel safe and happy!

There is one more thing that we are told,
Make sure that there is a clear sign at the fork of every road,
The best sign that there could be,
Is giving people the opportunity, for Torah study!

Souvenir: signpost