Shabbat On The Seventh Day This week’s Torah reading details the creation of the universe. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The conclusion of […]
Weekly Torah Portion
Insight and themes on the weekly Torah portion (parshah) read aloud in synagogue.
Gathering The Nation In this week’s Torah reading is the Mitzvah (commandment) of “Hakhel“. Every seven years, during the Holy Temple era, the king would get up on a platform […]
Jealousy in the Torah Part 2 לֹא תַחְמֹד בֵּית רֵעֶךָ לֹא תַחְמֹד אֵשֶׁת רֵעֶךָ וְעַבְדּוֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ וְשׁוֹרוֹ וַחֲמֹרוֹ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר לְרֵעֶךָ Do not covet your fellow’s house. Do not covet your fellow’s wife, or […]
Repentance Is Attainable! “For this commandment that I command you today, is not hidden from you and is notfar…it is very near to you…”. The Ramban teaches that “this commandment” […]
Farming, Effort, And God’s Blessing Growing crops is a long and challenging process. Farmers must wait patiently for the right conditions to plant their seeds. Once planted, the seeds need […]
You Can Choose To Be Blessed Or Cursed This week’s Torah reading describes at length the terrible suffering which will befall upon the Jewish nation should they not conduct themselves […]
Hachnasat Orchim The Right Way (Avot 1:5) “יוֹסֵי בֶּן יוֹחָנָן אִיש יְרּוׁשָלַיִם אוֹמֵר, יְהִי בֵיתך פָתּוח לִרְוָחָהֶָּך, וְיִהְיו עֲנִיִים בְנֵי בֵית” “Yose Ben Yochanan says: Your house should be open […]
Returning Lost Property In this week’s Torah reading (Devarim 22:1-3) we have the Mitzvah (commandment) of Hashavas Aveidah (returning a lost object). One who finds a lost object, must not […]
Amalek as an Ideology Our parshah ends with the mitzvah to erase the memory of Amalek. But today, we don’t know exactly who Amalek is. So how can we still […]
“And He Should Read from It His Entire Life” This week’s Torah reading discusses the laws regarding a Jewish King. One of the requirements of a king is that he […]
