2015-01-16

"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…

2015-01-09

"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,…

2014-03-01

“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…

2014-01-31

Immediately after the Divine revelation at Sinai, the Torah in Parshat Mishpatim presents a long list of mitzvoth, highlighting the link between…

2014-01-24

"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…

2014-01-17

"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…

2014-01-10

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…

2014-01-03

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…

2013-12-20

"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…

2013-02-01

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…

2013-01-04

“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…

2012-03-16

The Netziv, in his introduction to Sefer Shemot, notes that there is Gaonic tradition that refers to Shemot as chumash sheni, the second chumash.…

2012-02-24

One of the fiercest debates amongst medieval biblical commentaries was the extent to which parts of the Torah might be allegorical. The Ramban (…

2012-02-17

While there are various themes that run throughout Sefer Shemot, that of slavery is perhaps the central one. This notion is presented, with differing…

2012-01-27

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…

2011-02-26

The primacy of Shabbat as the foundation stone of Judaism is self-evident. Shabbat is the culmination of the creation process; two distinct reasons…

2011-02-11

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…

2011-01-29

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…

2011-01-15

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…

2011-01-07

“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…

2010-01-04

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…

2009-02-13

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…

2009-01-23

"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…

2008-01-01

What's in a name? Clearly, names played an important role to our Biblical ancestors. The names of Chava, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov…