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"G-d spoke to Moshe, and said to him, 'I am the Lord. I revealed myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as G-d Almighty, but My name YHVH…
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"And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt". The above verse serves as the opening to the second book of the Torah,…
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“Reish Lakish said: It was well known beforehand to Him at whose word the world came into being that Haman would one day pay shekels for the…
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Immediately after the Divine revelation at Sinai, the Torah in Parshat Mishpatim presents a long list of mitzvoth, highlighting the link between…
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"Do not be a follower of the majority for bad, do not respond to a grievance by yielding to the majority to pervert [justice]" (Shemot 23:2…
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"And Yitro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moshe, heard all that G-d did for Moshe and to Israel his people, that G-d had taken the…
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This week's devar Torah is dedicated in honour of the upcoming wedding of Miriam Libman and Ephraim Leiderman. May they merit to build a…
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This d’var Torah is sponsored by Claire and Howard Glowinsky l'ilui nishmas Chanah bas Rachel a”H, their dear aunt who passed away…
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"And he saw an Egyptian man hitting a Hebrew of his brothers" (2:11). To the slave in Egypt, being beaten up by our tormentors was the norm…
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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…
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“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…
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The Netziv, in his introduction to Sefer Shemot, notes that there is Gaonic tradition that refers to Shemot as chumash sheni, the second chumash.…
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One of the fiercest debates amongst medieval biblical commentaries was the extent to which parts of the Torah might be allegorical. The Ramban (…
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While there are various themes that run throughout Sefer Shemot, that of slavery is perhaps the central one. This notion is presented, with differing…
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In his opening comment on the Bible, Rashi links the Creation story to that of the Exodus. Working on the assumption that the Torah is primarily a…
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The primacy of Shabbat as the foundation stone of Judaism is self-evident. Shabbat is the culmination of the creation process; two distinct reasons…
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We have all been taught that it is the holiday of Shavuot that commemorates the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Interestingly, nowhere is this…
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Knowing the right people is, more often than not, the key to success in the modern world. We in North America refer to “connections”, but in Israel…
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Our long sojourn in Egypt was meant to develop those character traits necessary to transform the Jewish people into G-d's special nation. We were…
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“And Pharaoh awoke, he and all his officials and all the rest of Egypt. There was a great cry, as there was no house where there was no death…
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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…
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This week's d’var Torah is sponsored by Dr. Charles and Nathalie Piwko in observance of the yahrzeit of Charlie's mother, ob”m, and in celebration of…
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"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…
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What's in a name? Clearly, names played an important role to our Biblical ancestors. The names of Chava, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov…