“Moshe said to his father-in-law, ‘We are now on our way to the place that G-d promised to us. Come with us and we will let you share the benefit of…
The Torah was given to us on at least two occasions. The first revelation, just weeks after the exodus was ineffectual as the people built a golden…
Sefer Bamidbar can be viewed as a book of missed opportunities. A small group of Jewish slaves—the midrash claims no more than one in five—showed…
“These are the things that one eats the fruit of in this world and the principal remains in the world to come” (Shabbat 127a). Every morning as we…
We tend to categorize mitzvot as either mitzvot between man and G-d or mitzvot between man and man. Tzedakah is a mitzva between man and man whereas…
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you…
While facts do not lie, they often do not tell the whole truth. Facts are facts but facts still must be evaluated as to their moral propriety. And…
“And G-d spoke to Moshe after the death of the two children of Aharon when they came close before G-d and they died” (Vayikra 16:1). The Torah then…
Judaism teaches that everything has the potential for holiness; after all everything in this world was created by G-d. But it is up to man to…
There is no greater joy than having a child. From a religious perspective, bringing new life into this world is the most tangible way of…
“Moshe then inquired, darosh darash, about the goat of the sin offering, and it had been burned” (Vayikra 10:16). Judaism has always stressed the…
One of the major debates in Jewish thought relates to the appropriateness of ascribing reasons for the mitzvoth of the Torah. One approach asserts…
Jewish etiquette – and law – teach that one should not enter one’s own home, how much more so the home of someone else, without knocking first (…
"These are the accounts, pekudei, of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of testimony, as they were pukad, rendered, according…
“Moshe gathered the entire congregation of Israel and said to them” (Shemot 35:1). It is extremely rare that the Torah records Moshe speaking to the…
Forty days after the most awesome event in history – G-d’s revelation to man - the Jewish people were dancing around a golden calf. Though Moshe had…
The central theme of Sefer Shemot is the formation of the Jewish people as a nation. The group of 70 individuals who descended to Egypt quickly…
Symbols play an important part in helping to define who we are. Our clothing, for example, is often symbolic of the social milieu with which we…
"Rabban Yocḥanan ben Zakkai’s students asked him: ‘For what reason was the Torah stricter with a ganav, thief than with a gazlan, robber?’” (Bava…
What kind of book is the Torah and who is it meant for? Rashi begins his commentary to the Torah with the supposition that the Torah is primarily a…
Throughout the Exodus story, the Jewish people are silent. We do not know what they were thinking or doing during the plagues. We hear them rejoicing…
That man sins is part and parcel of being human. It is the basis of the most special day of the year, that of Yom Kippur. Proper preparation for, and…
“And Moshe was frightened and he said, behold the incident is known. And Pharaoh heard about the affair and he sought to kill Moshe…
The opening 11 chapters of Sefer Breisheet can be read as explaining why there was a need for a Jewish people. G-d created man in His image and…