This week’s d’var Torah is sponsored by Gershon and Leah Vandenbrink with best wishes for a joyous Sukkot. In rabbinic literature, Sukkot is known…
Yom Kippur: Just a Minute
The death of the righteous atones, our Sages teach, and it is for this reason that during Mussaf of Yom Kippur, just after recounting the special…
Rosh Hashanah: The Right Focus
“On Rosh Hashanah, it is written; and on Yom Kippur, it is sealed, who shall live and who shall die…” (Machzor). It is doubtful…
Vaera: The Right Reason
Sometimes the reason why one does something can be even more important than what was actually done. While our Sages note that one should strive to…
Lech Lecha: A Loving Son
“And Terach’s years were 205 years, and Terach died in Charan. G-d said to Abram, Go away from your land, your birthplace and from…
Noach: A Penny Saved
“Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation” (6:9). It is hard to imagine a greater endorsement than that which the Torah gives to Noach.…
Parshat Bereshit - Science and Torah
"In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth" (1:1). Light, sky, land, vegetation, animals and humans. The Torah's description of creation…
Devarim: Developing Torah
After forty years of wandering in the desert, the Jewish people were finally ready to enter the land of Israel. Their experience in the desert and…
Devarim: Have No Fear
After 40 long and, with important exceptions, mostly uneventful years, the Jewish people stood poised to enter the Promised Land. Undoubtedly, they…
Behar: Speaking of Sinai
Our Sages equated farming with faith. Only a man of faith could put in months of backbreaking labour, knowing full well that all his efforts could go…
Kedoshim: Theory and Practice
One of the cardinal principles of Judaism is the belief in the Divine origin of our Bible. While Moshe Rabbeinu was the greatest of human beings, his…
Yitro: Nine Commandments
It is customary in most shuls to read the aseret hadibrot in what is known as ta'am elyon, the upper cantillation. Whereas the ta'am tachton (the…
Vaera: Status Quo
"And they did not listen to Moshe, from short spirit and hard work" (7:9). Moshe had a daunting dual task before him. Not only did he need to…
Vayechi: Dual Loyalty
"If you really want to do me a kindness... act towards me with truth and kindness and do not bury me in Egypt" (47:29). So begins Yaakov's…
Lech Lecha: Informed Consent
Judaism and modern western thought both teach the supremacy of man's freedom of choice. For modern man, freedom is rooted in the notion of…
Tetzaveh: Nameless, But Not Forgotten
What's in a name? Clearly, names played an important role to our Biblical ancestors. The names of Chava, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov…
Shemot: No Names
Sefer Shemot, literally, “book of names”, seems to be a misnomer for our Parsha. (Rabbinic writings often refer to it as “book of redemption…
Vayigash: Simple Faith
After twenty-two difficult years, Yaakov was informed that his beloved son Yosef was the Viceroy of Egypt. Overcome with joy and disbelief, Yaakov…