“Therefore, the Jewish people will not eat the gid hanasheh, sciatic nerve, that is on the hip joint, to this day” (Breisheet…
Toldot: A Second Famine
“And there was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that was in the days of Avraham...And G-d appeared to him [Yitzchak] and said…
VaYerah: Living in Sedom
“And the people of Sedom were evil and sinners towards G-d beyond all measure” (Breisheet 13:13). Despite their depravity, Avraham Avinu…
Lech Lecha: Counting Sheep
"And there was an argument between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock, and the Canaanite and the…
V'zot HaBracha: A Man of G-d
Even though Parshat Vezot Ha'beracha is read over and over again during Simchat Torah it is probably one of the least understood and studied…
Haazinu: Action Reaction
Jewish thought teaches that the physical and spiritual worlds are meant to function harmoniously. Both are essential, and a proper balance must be…
Nitzavim: Near and Dear
One of the most vexing issues in Biblical interpretation is the relationship between pshat, loosely translated as the plain meaning of the Biblical…
Ki Tavo: The Presence of G-d
In the secular world in which we live it can be—and often is—hard to feel the presence of G-d. The Western world has turned religion into…
Ki Teitzei: Demanding More
When studying Torah we must study not only its content, but also its form; not just what the Torah says, but also how it says it. Proper study…
Shoftim: Enabling Evil
Evil does not exist in a vacuum. A culture is needed for evil to be nurtured, in which it can grow and develop. And when that happens,…
Re'eh: Springtime
“Guard the month of the spring, and make Pesach to the Lord your G-d, because it was in the month of the spring that the Lord your G-d took you out…
Chukat: Time to Talk
Parshat Chukat marks the transition from the generation that left Egypt to the one that would enter the Land of Israel. This was a transition marked…
Korach: Holy and More Holy
The Torah was "edited" with great precision. Narrative and law are often intertwined; one sheds light on the other. While our tradition…
Shelach Lecha: An Old Name
Of the twelve men sent to bring back a report about the land of Israel, only one of them—Yehoshua—has previously been mentioned in the…
Beha'alotcha: Out of Order
“And G-d spoke to Moshe in the Sinai desert in the second year of the Exodus from Egypt, in the first month” (Bamidbar 9:1). Pesach Sheni…
Nasso: More is Less
The Torah uses its words sparingly—and sometimes not at all. The Torah tells us very little about the laws of Shabbat[1]. They are, in the…
Shavuot: Eating Out
How should one celebrate the receiving of the Torah? The Talmud (Pesachim 68b) quotes a seemingly strange argument as to how to properly celebrate…
Behar: Money in Trust
In his thematic enumeration of the 613 mitzvoth, the Rambam has as the very first mitzvah that of belief in G-d. It is, in the view of the …