Please enjoy this Lelamed Dvar, now available in your local App Store (iTunes and Android). Please share this Dvar with someone, and enjoy this Dvar from Rabbi Avi Weiss... _______________________________________________ The last sentence of this week's Parsha states that ramps should lead to the altar. (Exodus 20:23) Why are ramps used and not steps? Rashi says the issue is one of modesty. If there were steps, the robe of the priest would be upset while he climbed them, revealing the nakedness of his limbs. With ramps, this would not occur. Rabbi Weiss offers another idea. The altar symbolizes a central place of spirituality, the ramps connecting the ground with the altar teach that in order to reach the higher world of the spirit one must be in constant motion. Ramps imply perpetual movement, whereas steps can offer rest. In the world of the spirit, one can either ascend or descend, never can one stand still. Shlomo Ressler _______________________________________________ Quotation of the week: "After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box." - Italian Proverb