Hal Miller

Shabbat Parashat Shelach - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller See the land, what is it, and the people that dwells in it, is it strong or weak, is it few or numerous? [Bamidbar 13:18] And how is the land in which it dwells, is it good or bad, and how are the cities in which it dwells, is it in open cities or in fortified cities? [Bamidbar 13:19] What was the purpose of the sending out of the spies? There are two obvious options, but which was the intent of God and Moshe? The first

Shabbat Parashat Beha'alotecha - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller God said to Moshe, gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and its officers, take them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you. [Bamidbar 11:16] Why is God telling Moshe to collect up a court of elders? Why seventy? This was not the first time Moshe had collected elders for a similar role, nor was it the last time. What happened to the earli

Shabbat Parashat Naso - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter, afflictive waters, and the afflictive waters shall come into her as bitter. [Bamidbar 5:24] He shall cause the woman to drink the water. [Bamidbar 5:26] He shall cause her to drink the water, and it shall be that if she had become defiled ... [Bamidbar 5:27] The case of the sotah, the wayward wife, is both distasteful and strange. One could ask many questions upon it and

Shavuot - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller There is a widespread custom to stand in shul during the reading of the Aseret HaDibrot (Ten Commandments) on the morning of Shavuot. What is the purpose of this custom and exactly how widespread is it? Certainly not every person nor every shul have this custom. Rambam was very emphatic in his criticism of it, saying that any person or any congregation standing should be rebuked and made to sit down. Sephardim for the most part follow Rambam on

Shabbat Parashat Bamidbar - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller You shall give the Levites to Aharon and his sons, given given are they to him from the children of Israel. [Bamidbar 3:9] We can ask a number of questions on our short verse. First, why is the word given repeated? Second, at the beginning of the verse God tells Moshe to give the Levites to Aharon, which implies that it is Moshe doing the giving, but the end of the verse says that they are given from the people. Third, whe

Shabbat Parashat Behar-Bechukotai - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller The resting of the land shall be yours to eat, for you and for your slave and for your maidservant and for your hired worker and for one who resides with you. [Vayikra 25:6] The Torah commands us that we are not to work the land in the seventh year of each seven-year cycle. At first glance, this yields a problem--what are we to eat in that year? Jewish society a couple thousand years ago was very agrarian, and had

Shabbat Parashat Emor - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller Speak to Aharon and to his sons that they keep themselves apart from the holy things of the children of Israel and do not profane My holy name which these sanctify to Me, I am Hashem. [Vayikra 22:2] The words "I am Hashem" or something very similar appear very regularly after various commandments in the last couple weekly portions and again this week. But they don't appear after every command. Why is there so much repetition

Shabbat Parashat Acharei Mot/Kedoshim - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller God spoke to Moshe after the death of the two sons of Aharon when they approached before God and they died. And God said to Moshe, speak to Aharon your brother, he may not come at all times into the Sanctuary, within the curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the Ark and he will not die, for with a cloud I appear upon the Ark cover. [Vayikra 16:1-2] Nadav and Avihu died earlier in Vayikra [10:1-2]. Thu

Shabbat Tazria-Metzora 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller When you arrive in the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I will place a tzara'at affliction upon a house in the land of your possession [Vayikra 14:34] Our parsha describes the tzara'at affliction in clothing, houses and people. Why only in regard to houses does it say "when you arrive in the land"? One might try to differentiate that clothing and people can be found outside the land, but I would respond that

Shabbat Parashat Shemini - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller Aharon spoke to Moshe, was it they who this day offered their sin offering and their olah offering before God? Now that such things befell me, had I eaten the sin offering this day would God approve? [Vayikra 10:19] Rashi and others tell us that "the term dibur (spoke) is always a term of force" that Aharon was being harsh with Moshe. Why was Aharon apparently angry here? What is he speaking about? To begin, the law is th