Ki Sisa 5780

Click for this TableTalk

DON’T STAND ALONE

Dovid Hamelech (King David) held a census using a headcount to get the tally of the number of people in our nation. Shortly afterwards a plague befell the people in which many died. Our Sages teach us that Dovid Hamelech failed to learn the lesson from this week’s Parsha, Ki Sisa, in which the Torah teaches us not to use a headcount to count the people, lest they suffer the consequences. Rather, we must take a coin from each individual and then count the coins, thereby reaching the tally. After these coins were collected they were used for the national cause of building a foundation for the Mishkan.

Continue reading Ki Sisa 5780

Terumah 5780

Click for this TableTalk

NO JEW IS SUPERFLUOUS

In this week’s Parsha, Terumah, HaShem instructs His people to contribute a terumah, a contribution, to the building of the Mishkan. Our Sages point out that the people were being asked to participate in three collections. One contribution was for the material with which to build the Mishkan. This included the gold, the silver, the copper, the different types of wool and so on. The second contribution was for the communal offerings. These include the two daily offerings, the musaf offerings and other offerings that were required of us as a nation. The third contribution was for the production of the silver rings which made up the base of the Mishkan.

Continue reading Terumah 5780