“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…
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…
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…
Shemot: Baa Baa Black Sheep
“And Moshe was tending to the sheep of his father-in-law, Yitro, the priest of Midian... and an angel of G-d appeared to Moshe” (Shemot 3…
Celebrating the New Year
Jews celebrate the New Year on the first of Tishrei with a solemn seriousness indicating the precarious nature of life. In contrast, the non-Jewish…
Vayechi: A Quiet Life Abroad
The story of Yosef begins, “and Jacob dwelled (vayeshev) in the land of his fathers, in the land of Canaan”. As the story of Joseph reaches its…
Vayeshev: And Yehuda Went Down
"And Yehuda saw her [his daughter-in-law Tamar], and he thought she was a harlot, because her face was covered" (38:15). Presumably, covering one's…
Vayishlach: Jacob, the Lonely Man of Faith
Avraham Avinu is known as "ha'Ivri" as the world was on one side, and he was alone on the other. It is not easy challenging the ideas of society…