Shabbat Candle lighting time: 8:01 (Friday, July 25, 2025)
Shabbat ends: 9:00 (Shabbat night, July 26, 2025)
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Lessons for today,
Shabbos, 1 Av, 5785 - July 26, 2025
In the seventh aliyah G-d commands the Jews to designate six cities to be cities of refuge. The purpose of these six cities of refuge is that when someone kills someone else inadvertently, they can run to one of these cities and be safe from vengeance until they can stand trial. The Torah then goes on to give laws of purposeful murder, for which the penalty is death. If someone is determined by trial to be an inadvertent killer, he is returned to the city of refuge and remains there until such a time as the High Priest passes away.
G-d gives the commandment that when daughters inherit their father's land, as in the case of Tzelafchad's daughters, they must marry only someone from their own tribe, so the land they inherit will remain in their father's tribe. As a result of this commandment, Tzelafchad's daughters marry their cousins within their tribe.
This aliyah completes the book of Bamidbar. In a synagogue, the congregation stands during the reading of the last part of the aliyah, and when the Torah reader reaches the end of the aliyah the congregation recites: "Chazak Chazak V'Nischazek" -- as we do at the end of each one of the five Books of the Torah. Next week we begin reading the book of Devarim.
