Hi,

The Book of Exodus continues.

And what a change of subject matter!

Straight from the Revelation at Mount Sinai and the building of the Altar?

To civil law!

Like the laws of damages and personal injury.

Laws against gossip.  The obligation to return lost objects.

Being truthful.  Consideration for the stranger.

And even helping an animal in pain.    

… It tells us alot about the Torah’s approach to life.  Its approach to “holiness”.

That holiness is not limited to the “Ten Commandments.”

And not limited to the Synagogue.

The Torah is concerned with our every day lives.

With how we deal with other people.

How we respect their feelings. Their dignity.  And their property.

Holiness is about always being conscious of G-d.

Remembering that He cares about how we live our lives.

And that every person we meet is created in G-d’s Image.

… In Jewish tradition, we make a blessing before eating.  A bracha.

If I eat an apple?  I make a bracha.

If I take a second apple?

No new bracha.

It’s considered one act of eating.

But suppose I finish eating.  And a few hours later I take another apple?

I do make another bracha.

… There’s also a blessing said before doing a Mitzvah, a commandment.

Like lighting Shabbat candles.

And there’s a bracha made before studying Torah.

The interesting thing?

Suppose I make a bracha, and study some Torah.

Then I go to work.

And hours later I get my Torah Minute.  And I read it.

Do I make another bracha?  No!

Why is it different than the apple?

Because we may close the Book and go off to work.

But we’re never really finished with the Torah.

So many times during the day we need to ask ourselves a question.

“What would the Torah want us to do?

Should we say this?  Should we do this”?

… We’re called the “People of the Book.”

We should never really close it!

All the best,