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ויצא בן אשה ישראלית והוא בן איש מצרי בתוך בני ישראל וינצו במחנה בן הישראלית ואיש הישראלי

The son of a Yisraelis woman went out – and he was the son of an Egyptian man –among the Bnei Yisrael; they fought in the camp, the son of the Yisraelis woman and the Yisraeli man. (24:10)

It all began with an argument. Veritably, it was not even a serious dispute. It was a question of allowing someone of tainted pedigree to move into the “neighborhood.” Perhaps the ish haYisraeli was justified in his attitude toward the one whose murky roots are intimated by the Torah. One thing is certain: We see the sad consequences of controversy. A machlokes, dispute, can lead to a most egregious and tragic sin: megadef, whereby one blasphemes Hashem’s Name. How did such a terrible sin result from a machlokes? Horav Gamliel Rabinowitz, Shlita, offers a powerful – perhaps frightening – explanation….

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כי תבאו אל הארץ אשר אני נתן לכם וקצרתם את קצירה והבאתם את עמר ראשית קצירכם אל הכהן

When you shall enter the Land that I give you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring an Omer from your first harvest to the Kohen. (23:10)

The Torah commences with, “And you reap its harvest,” implying that the harvest belongs to the Land, and concludes with, “You shall bring an omer from your harvest to the Kohen.” The question is: To whom does the harvest belong – to the Land or to the harvester? The answer is obvious: The harvester thinks he is the owner. Hashem is reminding him that a Jew does not live for himself. He is not to lose sight of the spiritual nature of his worldly possessions. They are all here to serve one purpose: to help others. Working in the trenches  …

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בחדש הראשון בארבעה עשר לחדש בין הערבים פסח... ובחמשה עשר יום לחדש הזה חג המצות לד'

In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month in the afternoon, is the time of the Pesach offering to Hashem. And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Matzos to Hashem. (23:5, 6)

Rashi explains that although the Festival actually begins in the evening (of the fifteenth day of Nissan), the Pesach-offering is slaughtered during the afternoon of the fourteenth. In the Torah, the word Pesach is used to describe the offering, while matzos – Chag HaMatzos, defines the Festival. Haamek Davar considers the time of Bein Ha’Arbayim, in the afternoon, to be part of the holy convocation of the Festival, so that labor is forbidden at that time. Why is there a separation between the time of slaughtering the sacrifice and the time that it is eaten – during the actual Festival?…

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ושמרתם מצותי... ולא תחללו את שם קדשי...

You shall observe My commandments, you shall not desecrate My holy Name. (22:31, 32)

One would assume that chillul Hashem, profaning Hashem’s Name, occurs only when one commits a transgression, thereby demonstrating that he has little regard for his spiritual dimension. What about an individual who performs mitzvos, but his attitude is lacking? He does what he absolutely must do to fulfill the mitzvah, but does not go the extra mile? He buys a simple Esrog “off the rack” with no regard to its beauty. Hiddur mitzvah means beautifying the mitzvah, showing how much it really means to him; dressing for Shabbos as if he were attending a wedding; glorifying the mitzvah as if…

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ואשה גרושה מאישה לא יקחו

They shall not marry a woman who has been divorced by her husband. (21:7)

In the Talmud Gittin 90a, a debate ensues between Bais Shammai and Bais Hillel concerning when it is “appropriate” to give one’s wife a bill of divorce. Bais Shammai, who is usually more stringent in his approach to rendering a Halachic ruling, says that one may divorce his wife only under such circumstances in which she has acted immorally. Bais Hillel, who is typically lenient, declares that one may divorce his wife for any inappropriate behavior – even if she has burnt his soup! While the position of Bais Shammai is understandable, we wonder how we can permit one to…

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