“Eicha esa, how can I alone carry your contentiousness, your burdens and your quarrels?” (Devarim 1:12). After 40 long years, the Promised Land is…
Pinchas: New Leadership
The illustrious "career" of Moshe Rabbeinu is coming to an end. G-d has told him that he will not be the one to lead the Jewish people into the land…
Balak: Animal Rights, Human Wrongs
"The pre-eminence of man over beast is non-existent, for all is vain" (Shacharit). Man has unfortunately proven the truth of this statement over and…
Shelach Lecha: Ties That Bind
Parshat Shelach Lecha details a most familiar story. The tragic events surrounding the mission of the meraglim forced Bnei Yisrael to…
Behalotcha: Mr. Humble
It is the rare occasion when the Torah actually characterizes an individual. Rather through an analysis of the Biblical narrative, we are meant to…
Nasso: Time for Repentance
Our 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…
Behar: Legal Loopholes
Legal loopholes are a mainstay of the legal profession. People are often frustrated when criminals are let off the hook on a technicality,…
Vayakhel: Voluntary Obligations
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…