THE DESERT IS an unforgiving place, unless God is leading you through it with great miracles. To most of the world, a desert is a symbol of death because little grows there and even less may survive.

LAST THURSDAY I got to shul a little bit early for Minchah and was learning when I overheard a conversation taking place a few rows behind me. Three men were speaking, one of whom was a Holocaust survivor I personally know.

THIS IS A small parsha with big messages. The central theme is summed up by this verse: I am God your God Who took you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be God to you. (Vayikra 25:38)

THE WORD KOHEN is spelled, Chof-Heh-Nun. It is a word that means to officiate in some way or another, but its letters allude to something deeper. The first two letters, Chof-Heh, have a history of their own, as does the last letter, Nun.

THE MITZVAH TO be holy is an interesting one because it is one of the few for which a reason is given. God told us that we have to be holy because He is holy.