"These are the accounts, pekudei, of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of testimony, as they were pukad, rendered, according…
“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…
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…
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 quickly…
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…
"Rabban Yocḥanan ben Zakkai’s students asked him: ‘For what reason was the Torah stricter with a ganav, thief than with a gazlan, robber?’” (Bava…
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…
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…
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…
“And Moshe was frightened and he said, behold the incident is known. And Pharaoh heard about the affair and he sought to kill Moshe…
"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…
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…
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…
Often it is the crises of life that strengthen us. By confronting the challenges that surround us, we emerge more resilient and wiser from the…
"There is no man on earth of such righteousness that does good and is free from sin" (Kohelet 7:20). Being human means to sin, and since G-d created…
“G-d said to Moses, ‘Write these words for yourself, ki al pi hadevarim, since it is through these words that I have made a covenant with you and…
The billions of dollars spent by the fashion industry, not to mention the celebrity status of fashion gurus, testify to the importance attached to…
The Torah is a description of the relationship between G-d and man, and between G-d and the Jewish people. The Torah begins with G-d’s creation of…