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The story of Bilaam’s curses is well known. Bilaam tries to use the power of speech against the Bnei Yisrael, but as soon as he opens his mouth to utter a curse, the most beautiful blessings emerge. Not to be deterred, Bilaam tries his hand a second time with ‘plan B’. After having expressed the beautiful bracha of mah tovu, expressing the holiness and sanctity of the Jewish home, Bilaam realises that the essence of the Jewish nation is its purity.

Feedback from an audience during and after a shiur is a vital tool, and keeping on top of it

The rebellion led by Korach and his following is fascinating. It seems incredible that someone could have the audacity to challenge a leader appointed by none other than Hashem Himself! The pasuk describes Korach’s fundamental complaint with Moshe:

The Financial Times headline said it all – ‘Theresa May’s hubris robs Britain of stability’ – The Independent called it ‘astounding arrogance’. No precedent does justice to the speed and depth of Theresa May’s political collapse. When she opted for a general election seven weeks ago, she had a poll lead that was larger than the Labour opposition’s entire share of the vote. The only question was whether her win would be comfortable or majestic.

“ויעש כן אהרן אל מול פני המנורה העלה נרותיה” The meforshim say that the menorah in the mishkon represented the Torah, “For Mitzvah is a candle, and Torah is light.” [Mishlei, 6:23]

Are ‘Early Bird Specials’ against Halachah? As the summer approaches, one cannot open a magazine without coming across an advert for a summer camp or hotel resort. Many of these offer an ‘early bird special’, which entails a cheaper price for those participants who pay early. Is this a problem of ribbis?

There are certain mitzvos in the Torah are very well known for the rewards that they provide. We all know of the arichus yamim promised for shiluach hakan and kibud av’ v’em. Obviously, there are also lessons meant to be learned not only from the mitzvos themselves, but also from the rewards attributed to them. However, in certain cases, what seems to be a reward may not be quite the positive it appears to be at first glance, and the very fact that we receive that reward may indicate a lacking in our own behaviour. The lesson, therefore, becomes even more important. We learn in this

"ויאמר ה' אל משה אמר אל הכהנים בני אהרן ואמרת אלהם לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו" "And Hashem said to Moshe, 'Speak to the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, they are not to become spiritually impure on account of contact with a dead body'".

There is one word, a value, that is entirely missing from public and private discourse in contemporary society. There are no public debates about its identity, relevance and meaning, no academic journals, no conferences. You can’t study it in University (only incidentally as part of theology or religion), there isn’t a single TED talk on this topic. In short, it just simply does not feature at all as part of our cultural milieu.

As Jews we know that though at times we may stray from a path of Torah, our potential remains genuinely good.