This week's parsha

Unless otherwise noted, "This week's Parsha" comprises articles taken from contributors to the Chabad.org website. We show the original author's name here, so that proper attribution is given. For the sake of brevity, footnotes cited in the original author's writings are omitted from this website. If you need to see the citations, please refer to the original articles on the Chabad.org website.

The Benefits of Anonymity

Published: 03 February 2014 | Written by Levi Avtzon

A few reasons why an author might choose to use a pseudonym:

He's unsure whether the book will be successful, and doesn't want to risk ruining his name and reputation.
The book divulges personal and sensitive information, and he doesn't want to walk down the street to meet the stares: "Oh, there goes the pathetic loser who was/did..."
The work challenges some very powerful interests and the author would rather that they not know who he is...

Let me introduce you to a different anonymous writer: Moses.

Colours in the Soul

Published: 27 January 2014 | Written by Tali Loewenthal

The world which G-d has created for us is very beautiful. One special feature is color: the blue sky and the deeper blue sea, green and brown hills, scarlet sunsets, the multi-colored rainbow and the myriad other colors which surround us at every step in our lives. Colors also have a spiritual significance. A clue to this idea is the way they appear in our Torah Reading, in the description of the making of the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary, carefully built by Moses and the Jewish people after receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, was the prototype of the Temple. Like the Temple in Jerusalem, it created a sacred space, with increasing levels of holiness: the outer Courtyard, then an enclosed chamber where there was the Golden Menorah, then the innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies, where there was the golden Ark, containing the two blocks of sapphire, engraved with the Ten Commandments, which Moses had brought down from Sinai.

A Modern World and Ancient Prophecies

Published: 20 January 2014 | Written by Rochel Holzkenner

In the 19th century and much of the 20th, war was a game for the players. Territorial invasion and imperialism were considered fair play; the fittest deserved to survive. On European soil, peace was maintained through a delicate balance of power, and when that power shifted, ammunition broke loose. World War I racked up a death toll of 15 million, all in a dispute over power and territory. By the end of World War II, the death toll was at a shocking 78 million.

Yet in 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait to solve Iraq's financial problems, the world was outraged. That kind of move was not considered cool anymore. Something had changed in our moral perceptions.

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