Ten generations after Noach, the Torah introduces us to Avram - who becomes Avraham Avinu, the father and founder of Am Yisrael. Parshas Lech Lecha begins with the Torah narrative shifting from the story of humanity to the story of one man and his wife:...
Parshas Noach begins ten generations after Creation, when we learn of a corrupt world. The Torah tells us about one man and his family - Noach, Naama, Shem, Cham, Yafes and their wives - who remained untainted. Hashem tells Noach that He will bring a...
As we conclude the joyful - and intensely spiritual - yomim tovim of Tishrei, and go back to the very beginning, we re-enter the sacred (and exciting!) world of Sefer Bereishis. After weeks of elevated tefillos, seudos yomtov, and Divine service, replete with various mitzvos,...
As we celebrate Chag Ha’Sukkos and move toward the conclusion of the Torah with the reading of V’Zos HaBracha on Simchas Torah, we encounter one of the final messages of Moshe Rabbeinu’s life: the importance of achdus (unity) within Am Yisrael. In V’Zos HaBracha, Moshe blesses...
Parshas Ha’azinu contains one of the final messages that Moshe Rabbeinu delivers to Am Yisrael before his death. It is called a shira (song), but it is also a warning, a history, a reminder of the relationship between Hashem and His people, and ultimately, a...
On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we read the story of the Akeidah (Bereishis 22) - one of the most powerful and challenging episodes in the Torah. Hashem commanded Avraham to take his beloved son Yitzchak and bring him as an olah (offering). As Avraham...
As we stand a week before Rosh Hashana, Parshas Nitzavim - the final parsha read annually before Rosh Hashana - speaks to us about an important, holy, and albeit, at times challenging, mitzvah. Throughout Chapter 30 of Devarim, the Torah references the mitzvah of teshuva (repentance)...
Parshas Ki Savo is filled with powerful moments of transition. The parsha introduces the mitzvah of bikkurim, the first fruits brought to the Beis HaMikdash, the laws of ma’aser, the covenant at Har Gerizim and Har Eivel, and the lengthy passage of brachos and klalos. At...
Among the myriad of mitzvos (seventy-two in total, according to the Rambam) in Parshas Ki Seitzei we learn of the obligation to remember Amalek. זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם - Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you were...
Parshas Shoftim opens with the command to establish courts in the cities and tribal territories of Eretz Yisrael: שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן־לְךָ בְּכָל־שְׁעָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ - You shall appoint judges and officers for yourself in all your gates that Hashem your G-d gives...