How important is intent in the performance of mitzvoth? Is it enough to mechanically perform the mitzvah, or is the intent to fulfill one’s…
Ki Tisa: Mountain Climbing
“Why should Egypt be able to say that You took them out with evil intentions, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the…
Terumah: A Lighter Load
The story is told that when the students of Rav Yisrael Salanter were preparing to bake matzah, they asked Rav Yisrael what they should be most…
Mishpatim: Talking Points
"Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me". This popular aphorism reflects the notion that it is physical harm to…
Yitro: A Joint Project
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…
Beshalach: Saving Our Enemies
When Moshe and Aharon first approached the Jewish people in Egypt, “the people believed; they accepted that G-d remembered the Jewish people…
Bo: A Short 430 years
The devar Torah is sponsored by Caron and Steven Gelles and Family in memory of their Grandparents Sylvia and Sam Gelles and Martha and Louis Silver…
Shemot: It's All In The Name
I imagine most of us have experienced being in a noisy room focusing on the conversation we are engaged in, oblivious to the chatter around us -…
Vayechi: The First Grandchildren
“On that day Jacob blessed them saying by you shall bless [the people of] Israel saying, 'may G-d make you like Ephraim and Menashe (48:20).'”…
Vayeshev: Look Out the Window
Why was it that Abraham and Yitzchak had only one child who would remain within the Jewish people while Yaakov merited that all his children would be…
VaYetze: Sisters In Love
One could hardly find fault with the claim that sibling rivalry is the major theme of Sefer Breisheet. Beginning with the first set of brothers, Cain…
Chayei Sarah: Mourning for Mother
"And Abraham said to his servant of the household. I bind you by an oath that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the…
Noach: The Greatness of Terach
“And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begot Shelah. And Arpachshad lived after he begot Shelah four hundred and three years, and…
V'zot HaBracha: It Too is a Blessing
In one of the great mistakes in history, Alfred Nobel was lucky enough to read his own obituary—a result of an error of an editor who printed…
Ki Tavo: To Share or Not to Share
Parshat Ki Tavo opens with the mitzvot of bikkurim, the farmers’ bringing of his first fruits of the land to the Temple, and viddui maaser, the…
Eikev: A Little Humility
Moshe Rabbeinu was a most humble person. We know this because the Torah tells us so, the only trait of Moshe that the Torah actually enumerates. But…
Mattot: Moshe and Midian
"G-d spoke to Moses, saying: Take revenge for the Israelites against the Midianites. Then you shall die and be gathered to your people…
Balak: The Lion King
It is for good reason that the lion is the king of the jungle. Powerful, courageous, fearless, and ferocious, lions sit at the top of the food…