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Sometimes we have to cry in order to feel sad.

It has been noted that the laws of national mourning for the Beis HaMikdash are patterned after the personal aveilus that one observes for the loss of a relative, lo aleinu. The restrictions of The Three Weeks are the same that a mourner observes during the 12 months after losing a parent: no haircuts, music, or weddings. Beginning with The Nine Days, we take on the national version of shloshim: no laundry, cutting nails, or bathing. Lastly, the mourning of Tish’ah B’Av itself has the status of shiv’ah: no leather shoes, Torah study, or sitting on chairs.

Chanukah was approaching, and the first-grade teacher wanted to give his class a fun assignment. He asked his students to draw a picture of something they were thankful for, and at the end, they would hang them all together in a collage. Most of the students drew Chanukah-related images, but Yaakov drew a different kind of picture. Yaakov was a different kind of boy. He came from a disadvantaged family, he struggled in school, and he had trouble making friends. As the other children played, Yaakov was likely to stay back and stand by his teacher’s side.

A three-year-old girl was suffering from a rare disease, and she desperately needed a bone-marrow donation to survive. Her parents were thrilled when they found out that her older brother, who was eight, was an exact match.

Remaining respectful of parents can lead to having a cow!

Chukas opens with the laws of the parah adumah (red heifer). Due to its paradoxical procedure, this mitzvah is considered to be the quintessential chok, a law without an understandable explanation. Because it was so rare, a true parah adumah was worth a fortune, as evidenced by the following story.

Sometimes, spelling doesn’t count!

The Apter Rav, Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel zt”l (d. 1825), epitomized the name of his sefer, Oheiv Yisrael, as he truly exemplified love for every Jew. His audience had already come to expect that each of his sermons would center on the theme of Ahavas Yisrael, always with some connection to the weekly Torah portion.

The power and purpose of intellect is an oft misunderstood concept in the Western world, making Parshas Chukas all the more important to study. Parshas Chukas introduces us to the paradigmatic chok, the mitzvah of Parah Adumah (the Red Heifer). A chok is commonly understood in contrast to a mishpat.