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 […]
Weekly Torah Portion
Insight and themes on the weekly Torah portion (parshah) read aloud in synagogue.
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 […]
The Countless Benefits of Trees There are so many ways we benefit from trees. They provide wood, which we use constantly in our day-to-day lives. Tables, chairs, closets, bookshelves—all are […]
At times, a child may be required to undergo a painful medical procedure and could be found screaming in pain with tears in his eyes. An outsider who is not […]
Twistable Words Most of us remember that when Yaakov (Jacob) spoke to Yitzchak (Isaac) to get the brachot (Blessings), and Yitzchak asked his identity, he replied, “Anochi Esav Bechorecha, I […]
Moshe’s Pleas Our parshah, Parshat Va’etchanan begins with one of the most moving and personal episodes in the Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses), the greatest of all prophets, turns to Hashem […]
