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…
“Could it be from Rosh Chodesh?” the authors of the Hagadah ask, raising the possibility that one might celebrate the Pesach[1] and tell the story of…
Moshe Rabbeinu was our teacher par excellence. As a great pedagogue, he understood the importance of teaching subject material in a timely manner. “…
The eating of karpas has long baffled our commentators. Why exactly do we dip a vegetable in salt water just as we are ready to begin the…
“In the first month of the second year on the first of the month, the Tabernacle was erected” (Shemot 40:2). Sefer Shemot concludes with…
Seemingly, one of the more depressing debates in rabbinic literature is one that the houses of Hillel and Shammai argued about for two-and-half years…
Much ink has been spilled and much discussion ensued in trying to analyze the difference between the question of the chacham and the rasha. On the…
As we all know too well, there is often a gap between the ideal and reality. In trying to implement our goals, we all too often fall prey to conflict…
“In each and every generation, one must see oneself as if they had left Egypt”. In Judaism, we not only commemorate the past, we…
Twice a year, on Yom Kippur and at the Pesach seder, we conclude with the prayer L’shanna haba’ah b’Yerushalayim. It is…
Pesach is the Jewish holiday of hope. It marks the beginning of the Jewish (lunar) year – and new years are always times of hope. It is celebrated in…
Our images of Egyptian slavery are those of forced labor and murder by a ruthless tyrant and his many followers. Despite Joseph literally saving…
"He made a feast for them and baked matzah and they ate" (Breisheet 19:3). The "angels" had come to Sedom to rescue Lot from…
“Chanoch lena’ar al pi darcho, train each child according to their way” (Mishlei). It is at the Seder that we analyze the questions of the “four…
The Seder night brings together Jews from all orientations and perspectives. The future redemption of the Jewish people, a theme which is central to…
Historians and sociologists have long debated whether it is historical trends that determine the course of events, the historical personalities being…
There is something most beautiful about a holiday that celebrates our past being focused on future, on our children. Pesach marks the founding of our…
"Therefore, in every generation, one must see themselves as if they have left Egypt”. All too often, we can only fully appreciate what we have when…
“And it was at the end of four hundred and thirty years, in the middle of that very day, that the legions of G-d went out from the land of Egypt” (…
Adam and Eve, Noach and his anonymous wife, Abraham and Sarah (and Hagar), Yitzchak and Rivka, Yaakov and his multiple wives, Moshe and Tziporah, all…
This d'var Torah is sponsored by David, Karen, & Beca Bookman, in memory of Karen's mother, Hilda Libman z”l, of Toronto. May we have a joyous…
Like so many children, Pesach was my favourite holiday. Some of my fondest memories revolve around the seder. As an adult, not much has changed…
“It happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining in B’nei Brak…