Jewish Groundhog Day (the movie)

At the end of this week’s Torah portion, we read of the gift that the leaders of Israel offered at the dedication of the Mishkan (the portable sanctuary that accompanied the Jewish people in the desert).

The Torah is very careful to ensure that each letter is exact and necessary.  Yet here in this discussion the Torah finds it necessary to repeat each and every gift of each and every leader although they are all exactly the same! 12 times! The Torah could have saved quite a bit of verses by summarizing and saying these are the leaders of the Tribes and they brought the following offering each and every day of the days of dedication.

Ever hear someone say something like “same stuff different day”? Today is just like yesterday, same joys, same oys.  Life is not exciting, it’s not dynamic it’s just a repeat of yesterday.

The Torah is teaching us that even if today is just like yesterday, the opportunities to fill today with goodness and G-dliness abound.

It’s up to us to decide if today will be Groundhog Day (the movie) or if today is a brand-new day!

The choice is ours.

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