Bereishit 8:22, “As long as the earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.” Sforno explains: “They ‘will not cease,’ but will continue in this unnatural condition which Elokim brought since the mabbul. Before the mabbul the apparent circuit of the sun was directly around the equator. The change in the attitude of the earth after the mabbul, so that the earth faces the sun at an inclination of the axis, it is the cause of the varying seasons. Before the mabbul the climate was perpetually warm due to the sun striking the earth directly at the equator. That environment was extradordinarily robust compared to the modern world’s and the earth had greater energy in all its members, mineral, vegetable, animal, and human. For this reason their lives were extraordinarily long.”
 

From “Mysteries of the Creation” by Rabbi Dovid Brown. We are studying from the following pages: pg. 112–116.

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The two obligations that we must fullfill everyday are thr recital of the Shema and the daily prayer service. When the Holy Temple (Beit ha-Mikdash ) stood, the daily and additional sacrifices were also included among the daily observances.
 

From the “RaMCHaL”–Derech HaShem–Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto. Page 271–275.

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G-d’s multifaceted creation: the secrets of creation and redemption as embodied in the commandment and observance of the shnat shmitta - the sabbatical year.

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Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2)
Parashat Behar is read on Shabbat:
Iyar 12, 5768/May 17, 2008

Weekly series with new teachings available every Thursday.

The month of Iyar is a particularly propitious time for increasing Torah knowledge. Being the month in which the manna began to fall in the desert, it is likewise a propitious time for realizing that G-d is also the source of our physical sustenance. The counting of the Omer, which occupies all the days of the month of Iyar, is itself intrinsically connected to the bounty of the manna, and the measure of spiritual and physical sustenance with which we will be blessed throughout the coming year.

(To learn more about the structure of the Holy Temple, please visit our Illustrated Tour.)

When one stands in awe before HaShem’s, Greatness, they are purified of the darkness associated with their physical body, and is enveloped by the Divine Presence. The greater this awe, the greater the purification and envelopment. Feeling awe of HaShem is particularly important while studying Torah and performing mitzvots, for the learning and observances cannot serve their ultimate purpose without it.
From the “RaMCHaL”–Derech HaShem–Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto. Page 261–269.

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The third world, was the Dor haMabbul, the contemporaries of Noach who were destroyed by the deluge. It was in this generation that had a most uncommon environment. The sages (Sanhedrin 108A) ascribe to them the fortune depicted by Job 21:8-13, as the all too common circumstance of scoundrels: Their children grow up healthy, and their descendants stand before their eyes. Their homes are peaceful, without fear, and the rod of Elokim’s discipline is not used on them. His bull impregnates his cow, and does not reject; his cow drops the calf, and does not abort. They send their children outdoors like sheep, and their infants dance. They play music on drums and harps, and they cheer to the sound of the flute. They spend their days in good times….
From “Mysteries of the Creation” by Rabbi Dovid Brown. We are studying from the following pages: pg. 106–112.

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The spiritual transition between slavery and freedom, emancipation and nationhood which Israel undergoes between her liberation on the 15th of Nisan and the receiving of Torah at Sinai seven weeks later,  is captured in the twin commandments concerning the omer: harvesting and offering the barley to HaSHem, and counting seven perfect weeks.

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Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23)
Parashat Emor is read on Shabbat:
Iyar 5, 5768/May 10, 2008