Articles Parsha Thoughts

Four walls, tasteful furniture, great appliances, a great family room, lots of storage space and beautiful landscaping do not a home make. It may…

Despite the fact – or perhaps precisely because – the reasons for the laws of kashrut are unclear, kashrut has long been considered one of the most…

It is a universal custom in the Jewish world that one cover the challot when they make kiddush on Shabbat. The explanation I have heard most often…

For the umpteenth time[1] the Torah in parshat Vayakhel commands us to keep Shabbat. It is here where the Torah, for the very first time, clearly…

G-d was ready to destroy the Jewish people. A mere 40 days after hearing His voice these same people were dancing around a golden calf. G-d had had…

For the next five parshiot the Torah will focus on the construction of the Mishkan, delineating in great detail how it was to be built, and then with…

There is no more important action a Jew can do than giving tzedakah. “We are obligated to be careful with regard to the mitzvah of charity to a…

“They journeyed from Rephidim, and they arrived in the desert of Sinai, vayachanu, they encamped, in the desert, and Israel vayichan, encamped there…

The Exodus from Egypt is the seminal event in Jewish history. While it was just the first stage of the forming of the Jewish nation, it is the Exodus…

“The length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years” (Shemot 12:40). To emphasize our length of stay in Egypt…

We are introduced – genealogically – to Moshe twice. The first time is, quite naturally, when he is born. Yet unlike pretty much every other prior…

The youthful Moshe has grown up in the Royal Palace, far removed physically and psychologically from his brethren, the Hebrews, now enslaved in Egypt…

The contrast between the beginning of sefer Breisheet and its ending could not be more stark. The Torah opens with life yet closes with death.…

“And we said unto my lord: We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother [Yosef] is dead, and he alone is…

Yaakov Avinu is finally heading home. Instead of feelings of intense joy he is nervous. After 20 years plus we too would be nervous coming home. His…

“And G-d saw that Leah was hated and He opened her womb. Rachel remained barren” (Breisheet 29:31). G-d has mercy on the “rejected” wife, and thus…

It is hard to imagine a more disparate couple than Yitzchak and Rivka, the quiet contemplative husband who would "meditate in the fields" (24:63),…

“Let the maiden to whom I say, ‘Please, lower your jar that I may drink,’ and who replies, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’—let her be the…