1. Kohanim have an obligation to bless the people. Outside of Israel, this practice is observed (in Ashkenazic communities) only on the festival, whereas in Israel it is observed daily. Should a Kohen who is irreligious feel uncomfortable performing this mitzva, when, in fact, many of the people he is blessing are far more pious than himself?

  2. The Torah goes to great lengths to describe the offerings brought by each tribal chief upon the completion of the Mishkan, even though they were identical. Many have explained that this was to demonstrate that, despite the temptations to try to outdo each other in their offerings, the tribal chiefs agreed that they would make a statement about the equality of all the tribes. What are the dangers of competition? Do these same dangers apply to competition in the religious sphere? Are there benefits to competition? At what point do the dangers outweigh the benefits?

link to lookstein.org