This Week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Shelach (Numbers 13:1-15:41)

I discuss the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Rabbs every Monday at 7pm PST on my live cam and on YouTube.

This week we study Parashat Shelach (Numbers 13:1-15:41).

Watch the videos.

* How are Rabbi Rabbs’s criticisms of the land of Israel different from the spies criticisms?

* This changing name thing happens a lot in Judaism. It rarely happened in goyish life. In this parsha, Moshe changes Hosea’s name to Joshua.

* Note that the spies brought back a juicy bunch of grapes, not a juicy shiksa. Speaking of shiksas, at 7:30 pm PDT June 19 I will deliver a talk on the Shiksa Menace 1.0 (the blonde WASP) to the Torah Man and also cover the Shiksa Menace 2.0 (the Oriental) and the Shiksa Menace 3.0 (the sultry latina). Beyond Baroque at 681 Venice Blvd, 90291.

* What will the goyim think? That’s Moshe’s argument to God when God wants to wipe out Israel. (Numbers 14:13–16.) What the goyim think about Jews is important. The whole purpose of Jews is to witness to God. I believe God was serious about killing off the Jews. The only purpose of Jews is to carry ethical monotheism to the world. If the Jews won’t do this, there’s no reason for them. God holds adults responsible for their behavior, even though they were once slaves.

* Sabbath violator (picking up sticks on Shabbat) is stoned to death. Judaism is a hardcore religion. (Numbers 15:32–34.)

* I wonder if part of Israel’s reluctance to conquer and take possession of the land of Israel is that it would mean getting off divine welfare and earning their own living. (Artscroll, p. 805)

* It’s important that women stop wearing pants out. They’re not flattering. Particularly, no pantsuits!

About Luke Ford

I've written five books (see Amazon.com). My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).
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