Positive Mitzvah 246: Laws of Claims
Exodus 22:8 "In every case of trespass...in which one can say: This is it"'

Ari and Izzy were playing ball on the lawn.

Suddenly, Ari felt his glove beginning to slip of his hand.

He shouted to Izzy to wait a second, but Izzy threw the ball anyway. It landed in the street sewer because Ari wasn't ready to catch it.

"Hey! I asked you to wait!" Ari yelled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you," Izzy answered.

"Yes you did. I could tell! Now you've got to buy me a new ball!" Ari demanded.

"No I don't" Izzy protested.

In cases like these, where an argument arises and people disagree about who bears responsibility for a loss or damage, the Torah teaches us how to come to a fair decision.

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Positive Mitzvah 248: Laws of Inheritance
Numbers 27:8 "If a man dies and he has no son..."

HaShem blesses us with life and possessions.

When someone passes away, the property which HaShem has granted him is inherited by his children or next of kin.

This Positive Mitzvah concerns the many detailed laws of inheritance.

We should always remember that material possessions are not only things that are passed on to us by our parents.

The greatest inheritance we receive is our Jewish soul and connection to our Torah heritage. Thus, we add one more link in the everlasting chain of the Jewish People and in our devotion to the greatest gift of HaShem - the Torah.

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Intellect is crippled in its approach to the Divine -- after all, logic, the criteria of what makes sense and what doesn't, is itself no more than a creation, a whim of a Supreme Creator who is infinitely beyond intellect. To approach the One Who Created Intellect, requires a sense which is beyond intellect. We call this sense emuna, which some translate as faith.

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com