The End is Wedged in the Beginning
Parshat Vezot HaBracha On Simchat Torah the custom is to read the last portion of the Torah Vezot Haberacha and to immediately role it to the beginning and read from the first portion of the Torah, Bereishit, marking the beginning of a new cycle of reading the Torah. This fulfills the statement in the Zohar […]
A Portion of God is His People
Parshat Ha’azinu In the song of HaAzinu it states: “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance; when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 32:8). Yet, the seventy archetypal nations appear chronologically before the seventy souls […]
On that Day
Parshat Vayelech In Vayelech, as part of the introduction to the song of Ha’azinu, God warns the people that if they turn away from Him, He will hide His face on that day — bayom hahu: “And I will hide My face on that day, because of all the evil they have committed, when they […]
The Language of the Torah- Parshat Nitzavim
Parshat Nitzavim “And God uprooted them from upon their land, with fury, anger and great wrath, and He cast them to another land, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 29:27). In the Hebrew the word for “and He cast them” ( וישלכם ), the letter lamed is written large. The letter lamed is the tallest […]
The Language of the Torah
Parshat Nitzavim “And God uprooted them from upon their land, with fury, anger and great wrath, and He cast them to another land, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 29:27). In the Hebrew the word for “and He cast them” ( וישלכם ), the letter lamed is written large. The letter lamed is the tallest […]
L’Chaim!-Parshat Ki Tavo
Parshat Ki Tavo In the portion of Ki Tavo there are a total ninety-eight “curses” which threaten the Jewish People if they turn away from God and the Torah. These “curses” are preceded by a series of blessings that will unfold if the Jewish people cling to God and the Torah. These ninety-eight “curses” are […]
L’Chaim!
Parshat Ki Tavo In the portion of Ki Tavo there are a total ninety-eight “curses” which threaten the Jewish People if they turn away from God and the Torah. These “curses” are preceded by a series of blessings that will unfold if the Jewish people cling to God and the Torah. These ninety-eight “curses” are […]
Creating Doubt and its High Cost-Parshat Ki Teitzei
Parshat Ki Teitzei “You shall have a full and honest weight, [and] a full and honest ephah measure, in order that your days will be prolonged on the land which Hashem, your God, gives you. For whoever does these things [deceptive measurement], whoever perpetrates such injustice, is an abomination to God, your God” (Deuteronomy 25:15-16). […]
Creating Doubt and its High Cost
Parshat Ki Teitzei “You shall have a full and honest weight, [and] a full and honest ephah measure, in order that your days will be prolonged on the land which Hashem, your God, gives you. For whoever does these things [deceptive measurement], whoever perpetrates such injustice, is an abomination to God, your God” (Deuteronomy 25:15-16). […]
Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue- Parshat Shoftim
Parshat Shoftim “Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land God, your God, is giving you” (Deuteronomy16:20). Although the simple, literal sense of this injunction is directed to the judges and society in general, Rashi clarifies that it is actually directed to the litigants. The doubled language of “justice, […]