One of the major debates in Jewish thought relates to the appropriateness of ascribing reasons for the mitzvoth of the Torah. One approach asserts…
Vayikra: Come on In
Jewish etiquette – and law – teach that one should not enter one’s own home, how much more so the home of someone else, without knocking first (…
Pekudei: Remember the Count
"These are the accounts, pekudei, of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of testimony, as they were pukad, rendered, according…
Vayakhel: Time to Meet
“Moshe gathered the entire congregation of Israel and said to them” (Shemot 35:1). It is extremely rare that the Torah records Moshe speaking to the…
Ki Tissa: Time to Speak
Forty days after the most awesome event in history – G-d’s revelation to man - the Jewish people were dancing around a golden calf. Though Moshe had…
Tezaveh - Biblical Editing
The central theme of Sefer Shemot is the formation of the Jewish people as a nation. The group of 70 individuals who descended to Egypt…
Terumah - Soaring to the Heavens
Symbols play an important part in helping to define who we are. Our clothing, for example, is often symbolic of the social milieu with which we…
Mishpatim: The Thief and the Robber
"Rabban Yocḥanan ben Zakkai’s students asked him: ‘For what reason was the Torah stricter with a ganav, thief than with a gazlan, robber…
Yitro: Who was at Sinai
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 Torah is primarily a…
Beshalach: Great Expectations
Throughout the Exodus story, the Jewish people are silent. We do not know what they were thinking or doing during the plagues. We hear them rejoicing…
Vaeira: Yes Thank You
That man sins is part and parcel of being human. It is the basis of the most special day of the year, that of Yom Kippur. Proper preparation for, and…
Shemot: No Thank You
“And Moshe was frightened and he said, behold the incident is known. And Pharaoh heard about the affair and he sought to kill Moshe…
Vayechi: Joining the Covenant
The opening 11 chapters of Sefer Breisheet can be read as explaining why there was a need for a Jewish people. G-d created man in His image…
Vayigash: A Test of Leadership
It is clear already from the sale of Yosef, that Yehuda had leadership potential. It was he who convinced the brothers not to murder Yosef, something…
Mikketz: Royal Politics
Yosef was a most charismatic person. He was young, attractive and as the Torah tells us on three occasions, he was an ish mazleach, a successful…
Vayeishev: Yosef and Greece
The annual Torah reading cycle has us reading the story of Yosef during Chanukah[1]. While in most years it is Parshat Mikketz we read on Shabbat…
Vayishlach: He Was Afraid
“And Jacob was very frightened and distressed” (Breisheet 32:8). After some 22 years Yaakov Avinu is returning home. Afraid that Eisav –…
VaYetze: Worse than Pharoah?
“Go out and learn what Lavan the Aramean sought to do to Yaakov, our father; Pharaoh only decreed [death] on the males but Lavan sought to uproot…