** This Dvar is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Chana Haddas Ressler, who (still) inspires me to read and explore ** This short, practical Lelamed Dvar is also available in your local App Store (iTunes and Android). I would send these emails even if there was one person receiving it, but of course the preference is to have this reach anyone that might possibly enjoy it. As such, if you can think of anyone else that might enjoy these short and practical Divrei Torah, kindly let me or them know... _______________________________________________ Nature dictates that children look somewhat like their parents, fruits look like other similar fruits, and animals act in predictable ways. But if that were always true, then how do the laws of the Red cow, brought in Parshat Chukat, make sense? How could the impure be purified, while the pure become impure? How do these things make sense, if there is to be order in nature and creation? The Mofet Hador explains that we too were all given opposing forces. We were given the Torah, which tells us of these and other 'contradictions', and we were given the brain that wonders about all of it. The Parsha starts by helping us deal with these, and other issues. 'This is the law of the Torah" ...our laws make sense, even if we don't understand them. We're limited in our wisdom. In fact, Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon), who was given all the knowledge, couldn't understand the laws of the Red Cow, and said, "It is far from me". The logic is there, but none can discern it, and that too is part of nature. So when we come to a fork in our lives, and we're deciding whether to do what we know we should or what we think we could, we should remember this lesson: Our minds might be limited in understanding, but the Torah's wisdom is eternal. Shlomo Ressler _______________________________________________ Quotation of the Week: “Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.” - Angela Monet