Hal Miller

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

Pesach 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller Shir haShirim asher l'shlomoh [Shir HaShirim 1:1] We have a deep-seated tradition to read the Song of Songs on Shabbat morning during the week of Pesach. Some also have a tradition to read it after the seder. But the entire megillah is impossible to understand in its simple meaning, as would have been typical for any other book of the Canon, so this book is obviously all an allegory. Looking at just the first verse here, what does it mean? There

Shabbat Parashat Tzav - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller This is the offering of Aharon and his sons, which each shall offer to God on the day he is inaugurated: a tenth ephah of fine flour as a meal offering, continually, half of it in the morning and half of it in the afternoon. [Vayikra 6:13] When is this offering brought? The verse first gives us a time frame of "on the day he is inaugurated", but then follows that with "continually". To understand this we must first ask why t

Shabbat Parashat Vayikra - 5786 Rabbi Hal Miller You shall salt your every meal offering with salt, you may not discontinue the salt of your God's covenant from upon your meal offering, on all your offerings shall you offer salt. [Vayikra 2:13] Why salt? What exactly gets salted? What qualifies as salting? Sefer HaChinuch draws from our verse both a negative commandment (118) not to bring an offering without salt, and a positive commandment (119) to bring salt with ever