EXOD635 He used to say: … the more wives, the more witchcraft … Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 8. In ancient times, women in particular were given to occult activities. When Scripture decrees death for witchcraft, it speaks of a woman practitioner [this verse]. But this teaching has cogent meeting for our time too: When men devote themselves to women and the pleasures they afford, we can easily become slaves to them. Surrounded by "cooperative" assistants of this type, the Madame Pompadours of every age have had a little trouble performing their little "tricks -- feats of magic which have caused untold harm to all concerned.

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EXOD692 (Continued from [[EXOD464]] Exodus 20:13 steal SINAI 1 16). In secular law, the legal rate of interest on money loaned is six percent a year [in 1964]. If the borrower is a corporation is (sic) may be charged more. According to Jewish law, however, even the smallest amount is considered usury and is forbidden [this verse, Leviticus 25:36–37, Deuteronomy 23:20–21]. But the Torah goes even further. Suppose that you lend money to someone who until now never greeted you if he saw you. After this day, however, he greets you regularly with a cordial "Good morning," perhaps a bit too warmly. That, say our Sages, is "the dust of usury"! Trifling and intangible though it be, it borders on the usurious; it smacks of usury. With its penetrating gaze of absolute justice, the Torah will not condone even this.

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EXOD793 (Continued from [[GEN501]] Genesis 4:9 keeper SINAI1 xxi) If our primary purpose through life's journey is moral, to ever develop and grow in moral character, mussar is vitally necessary--to learn it and teach it--that we and our fellow Jews may improve in spiritual health. It is our obligation to show a neighbor the error of his ways and help him avoid sin with its tragic consequences. In Scripture we read, "If you meet your enemy's ox or donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him" [this verse]. Who is the owner of this animal that you are required to rescue? Even if he is not a friend but your enemy, hashev t'shivenu lo, says the Torah, doubling the verb: literally, "return shall you return it to him." And to the Sages of Talmud and Midrash this means that even if you keep taking the animal back and it keeps running away, though this happens four or five times, you must continue to bring it to the owner, knowing that he bears you enmity (T.B. Baba Metzi'a 30b; Midrash haGadol on Exodus 23:4). Now, suppose it were not an enemy's animal, but the valued property of a friend. We should surely go out of our way to rescue it. Then what if instead of the animal, the friend himself goes astray in the pathways of life? How much stronger should be our heartfelt concern, our deep obligation to return him to the proper path.

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EXOD795 See [[GEN501]] Genesis 4:9 keeper SINAI1 (continued at [[DEUT1082]] Deuteronomy 22:1 bring SINAI1 xxii

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EXOD914 In the most important and most dramatic moment of our history, when our people stood at Mount Sinai and the Almighty offered them His Torah, they responded vibrantly, with one accord, "na'aseh v'nishma--we will do and we will understand' [this verse]. At that moment, says the Talmud, myriads of angels appeared and placed two crowns on every Israelites: one for na'aseh and one for nishma (T.B. Shabbath 88a). This is the two-fold program of Judaism: doing and learning, studying the precepts of Torah and then weaving them into our everyday lives, and our worldly pursuits. The two t'fillin, the phylacteries, that we put on every morning, symbolize this to connote na'aseh, our readiness to do an act; we put the other on our forehead, to symbolize nishma, our study, learning, understanding. Now, it is our practice to put on the t'fillin of the hand first and remove it last, so that the t'fillin of the head is never on alone without the other. The significance of this is clear and vital: Judaism rejects learning without doing. The shel rosh should never be on alone, without the shel yad. Judaism cannot live and grow in the mental hothouse of an ivory tower. The Torah insists on thought for action, study for observing the mitzvoth. Learning must always be accompanied by doing, by implementing, by carrying out the precepts in practice.

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EXOD942 He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not for you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it… (Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 21). In Avoth d'Rabbi Nathan (11) we find two further aphorisms of his, related to his maxims in our perek: "The Holy One, blessed is He, did not bring His sh'chinah (Divine Presence) to dwell on the people Israel until they have done work, for it is said: "Let them build Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst" [this verse]. And again, "Man dies only from idleness, not from working."

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LEV25 Don Isaac Abarbanel … points out that … the word b'rith (covenant) denotes the contractual commitment into which the people Israel and the Almighty mutually entered: Israel undertakes to uphold the Torah and observe his precepts, all the Almighty promises to protect His people and reward it with Messianic fulfillment and life in the world-to-come.… In regard to the sacrifices on the altar (kodashim) we are told, "With all your offerings you shall offer salt" [this verse] and further, "It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord , for you and for your offspring with you." (Numbers 18:19). Salt is a preservative and is it self not subject to decay; it thus symbolizes the enduring nature of the people Israel's relationship to God.

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LEV70 Again and again our Torah emphasizes the dignity and respect that a man must accord his fellow. The Torah is considerate of human feelings even where you would least expect it. During the days of the Temple, for instance, various people brought offerings for different reasons. Some sacrifices were obligatory, some were gifts, and some were brought to atone for sin. In this last category were the hattah (sin–offering), brought for an unintentional transgression; the asham (guilt–offering), brought, for example, for the sin of swearing falsely; and the olah (burnt-offering), sometimes brought for improper thoughts, but it could be brought for other reasons as well, unrelated to sin. Now just imagine what might have happened at the Temple. The person making the offering had to be present, to place his hands on the animal of the sacrifice. Then, if Reuben walked into the Temple with his ashram, everyone would know that Reuben had sworn falsely! Let Simeon enter the Temple with his hattah, and all would realize that Simeon had sinned! Surely the Temple would have become a center of unwarranted public humiliation. Therefore the Torah specifically commands: "In the place where the olah is slaughtered shall the hattah be slaughtered" [this verse]; "In the place where they slaughter the olah shall they slaughter the asham" (Leviticus 7:2). Under this system the spectator would never know whether a particular sacrifice was a voluntary offering or something obligatory in expiation of a sin. This is how the Torah sought to protect the dignity and esteem of man. (Continued at [[DEUT977]] Deuteronomy 20:5 "go back" SINAI1 301-2)

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LEV75 See [[LEV70]] Leviticus 6:18 place SINAI1 301

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LEV120 See [[DEUT153]] Deuteronomy 5:8 idol SINAI1 118-9

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