Effort vs. result. The relative value of these two concepts is a fundamental dispute between our western worldview and Jewish teachings. The secular…
VaEtchanan: Time for Comfort
Life is so unfair. While we believe that ultimately (and ultimately can take an eternity!) justice must and will prevail—to believe otherwise…
Tisha B'Av: Greetings
“Everything is dependent on mazal, even the sefer Torah in the ark”. Certain mitzvoth just luck out, being widely observed across the…
Mattot-Massei: It's Your Land
“And Elazar the priest said: This is the law of the Torah, which the Lord commanded Moshe” (Bamidbar 31:21). The Torah goes on to…
Pinchas: Moving On
"And Moshe did as G-d had commanded and he took Joshua and stood him before Elazar Hakohen and before the people" (27:22). Moshe's role as leader is…
Balak: Religious Wars
This week's d'var Torah is sponsored by Golda Brown in honour of the yahrzeit of her son, Moshe Chanoch Brown…
Korach: Some Are More Holy Than Others
The survival of the Jewish people in the desert was a direct result and only possible because of Divine intervention: the splitting of the sea; water…
Shelach Lecha: The Little Things
Sefer Bamidbar describes not only the physical locale of the Jewish people, but their spiritual state. Wandering in the desert, they could not be…
Beha'alotcha: What Goes Up Must Come Down
"It was in the second year, on the 20th day of the second month, that the cloud [of glory] rose from the Tabernacle of Testimony" (Bamidbar 10:…
Shavuot: Whose Torah Is It?
The holiday of Shavuot is, outside of the observant Jewish community, a much-neglected holiday. It lasts only one day (two in the Diaspora), comes…
Behar-Bechukotai: End of the Story
“These are the commandments that G-d has commanded Moshe to the children of Israel on Mount Sinai (Vayikra 27:34).” Though it is the Book…
Kedoshim: Hating Your Neighbour
One of the most powerful ways to express hatred is to refuse to speak to someone, or to just plain ignore that person. We Jews are very good at…
Yom Ha'atzmaut: From Yom HaZikaron to Yom Ha'atzmaut
This d'var Torah is dedicated in honour of the participants in Chidon HaTanach, the 50th International Bible Contest taking place on Yom Ha'atzmaut…
Shemini: Counting to Eight
"And it was on the eighth day" (Vayikra 9:1). While this verse is the beginning of a new parsha, the Torah clearly links it to the…
Pesach: Shaping Tomorrow
Adam and Eve, Noach and his anonymous wife, Abraham and Sarah (and Hagar), Yitzchak and Rivka, Yaakov and his multiple wives, Moshe and Tziporah, all…
Parshat Zachor: Defeating Amalek
“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you left Egypt” (Devarim 25:17). Amalek is the embodiment of evil in this world, the inventor of…
Yitro: Day of Rest
The aseret hadibrot present two very different reasons why we are to keep Shabbat. In parshat Yitro, it is “because in six days, G-d made the…
Bo: Matzah of Slavery, Matzah of Freedom
Even those far from observance know that the reason we eat matzah is that we left Egypt in too much of a hurry to bake the bread. “And they baked the…