If one wants to get a quick overview of a book one tends to read the introduction or perhaps the opening pages. That is where a typical author sets…
“And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the hadar tree, date palm fronds, a branch of a braided tree, and willows of the…
Rosh Hashanah marked 100 years of Daf Yomi. I have seen surprisingly little written about this important milestone. The thoughts below on this…
“For the sin we sinned before You, b’ones u’beratzon, under duress and willingly. So begins the litany of al chets, the double acrostic listing of…
“Haazinu Hashamayim vadebera, vatishma haaretz imrei pi, Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; Let the earth hear the words I utter” (Devarim 32:1). In…
“Ubechen, Please G-d instill pachdecha, terror upon all Your works and eimatecha, Your dread upon all that You have created”. So begins the Amidah on…
"You are standing this day all of you before the Lord your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel: your…
Why does misfortune befall the Jewish people? While there is no simple answer – or perhaps no answer at all - to this complex problem of theodicy,…
One of the beautiful aspects of our Torah is the fact that it deals with real-life issues, and with real and thus imperfect people. Nezikin, damages…
The thoughts below are dedicated in celebration of the birth of our granddaughter, Tikva Razel. May our children Atara & Noah raise Tikva Razel …
Long before Lord Acton, the Torah well understood that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is for this reason that the King –…
Each of the five books of the chumash has a unique theme – otherwise there would be no need for five books. Breisheet discusses why there is a need…
One of the primary goals of the Torah is the inducement of fear of heaven. “Now what does Hashem, your G-d ask of you? Only to fear Hashem your G-d,…
Our holidays form natural units, as none truly stand alone. The 49 days of the omer link Pesach to Shavuot. We begin the holiday cycle by celebrating…
“Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the laws and rules that I proclaim to you this day! Study them and observe them…
“Rav Yochanan said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because they followed the laws of the Torah” (Bava Metzia 30b). The Talmud is incredulous at such an…
“Moshe said to the Lord, "I beseech You, O Lord. Lo ish devarim anochi, I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before…
“And a lot of livestock did the children of the Reuven and Gad have and they saw the Ya’azer, and Gilead areas that were good for livestock” (…
While it is undoubtedly true that people get the leaders they deserve, it is also true that great leaders are often—though not always—able to inspire…
“And the Jewish people, the entire congregation, came to Midbar Zin in the first month, and they dwelled in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and…
“Im Bryiah Yivrah, But if the Lord creates a creation, and the earth opens its mouth, patzta et piha, and swallows them and all that is theirs, and…
One of the most fascinating features of the Torah is the mixing of law and narrative. Nowhere is this more evident than in sefer Bamidbar. Sefer…
Mid-June on the North American calendar is graduation season. In the Jewish community, hundreds, nay thousands, of graduations will take place,…
One can reasonably argue that the primary theme of sefer Bamidbar is that of leadership. How much responsibility must a leader take for the failings…
It is amazing how two people can look at the exact same thing and yet see things very differently. This is likely the reason that the Torah often…
It is the omer, a measure of barley, that unites the Biblical holidays of Pesach and Sukkot. With no calenderic date Shavuot occurs on the day after…
One of the hallmarks of a strong society is its ability to smoothly effect change. New leaders and policies, crises and confrontations are all dealt…
Many a great and historic event took place on a mountain. Noach’s ark rested on Mount Arrarat allowing for the continuation of humanity. Avraham took…
Pomp and ceremony are very Jewish ideas. While this may come as a surprise to many, the Torah understood that pageantry has a great impact on people…
The major theme of sefer Vayikra is, arguably, that of tumah and taharah, purity and impurity. When one reads the Torah, one senses what seems almost…
“The majority of the essence of the Torah is dependant upon it”. So asserts Rashi as he begins his commentary to parshat kedoshim. It is because of…
There is no aspect of our life that is beyond the purview of Torah. People need its rules and regulations in every area, to keep their natural…
At times of crisis, true leaders often emerge, be they political, military or religious. Their ability to effectively provide inspiration, motivation…
A legal system by its very nature is detail oriented. While laws represent the values of any given society, a law once established takes on an…
“Go out and learn what Lavan the Aramean sought to do to Yaakov, our father. Pharaoh only decreed on the males but Lavan sought to uproot everything…
“Do not eat any blood…any person who eats blood shall have his soul cut off from his people” (Vayikra 7:26-27). The prohibition against eating blood…
One of the tragedies of the human condition is the inability to admit our mistakes. Even when faced with compelling arguments to the contrary man has…
"Moshe said to the Jewish people: See that G-d called in the name of Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Judah" (Shemot 35:30…
Why did Moshe break the luchot habreet, the tablets of testimony, that were written by G-d himself? While one might be tempted to answer that it was…
One of the (many) strange features of Purim is the fact that we do not recite Hallel. “The Prophets among them established [Hallel] for the Jewish…
For many, when the Torah reading reaches the parshiot of Terumah and Tezaveh interest in the parsha wanes just a bit (or maybe more). It is hard to…
In his introduction to Pirkei Avot, the Rambam distinguishes between those mitzvot which we are to observe because we want to and those we should…
Like many Torontonians, I was shocked and saddened to hear that our mayor, John Tory was resigning after having had an affair with a former staff…
Famine, exile, dissent, descent, slavery, persecution, death and at last redemption. The Jewish people have crossed the sea – finally believing “in G…
The story of the attack by Amalek upon the newly freed slaves from Egypt appears twice in the Torah, once in our parsha and once 40 years later in …
The Torah is full contradictions[1]. So much so that interpreting these contradictions is one of the most fundamental principles of Biblical exegesis…
One of the amazing features of man is his ability to adapt to practically any and all situations. When facing tragedy, we often feel that we can no…
“And a new king arose who did not know Yosef” (Shemot 1:6). What a difference a few years can make. In the 59 years between the death of Yosef and…
"And they said, should they make our sister like a harlot?" (Breisheet 34:31). So ends round one of the debate between Yaakov on one side, and Shimon…
One of the tests of the character of a person is seeing how they react to adversity. Do they try to make the best of the situation, taking advantage…