Rosh Hashana 5784. Another year - 5783 - has come and gone, and here we stand on the precipice of a new year. We reflect on the year that has passed, on our achievements, our shared mission, our communities, families, friends, and our Land. We...
This week we read the double parshios of Nitzavim-Vayelech. With a strong focus on the mitzvah of teshuva (repentance), these parshios close out 5783. Amongst the very many beautiful stirring and powerful words of Moshe Rabbeinu here, at the very end of his life,...
At the end of this week’s parsha, Parshas Ki Savo, the Torah informs us of the terrible klalos, the curses and Divine retribution, that will befall the nation when it does not go in the ways of Hashem. After recording a series of beautiful brachos...
At the very end of this week’s parsha, Parshas Ki Seitzei, the Torah records the mitzvah of zechiras Amalek: זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק, בַּדֶּרֶךְ, בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם - You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt; אֲשֶׁ֨ר...
Towards the end of this week’s parsha, Parshas Shoftim, the Torah teaches us about the parameters and mitzvos in regard to going out to battle (Devarim chapter 20). The opening pasukim tell us: כִּי-תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל-אֹיְבֶךָ, וְרָאִיתָ סוּס וָרֶכֶב עַם רַב מִמְּךָ--לֹא תִירָא, מֵהֶם: כִּי-ה’ אֱלֹקָיךָ...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Re’eh, we are commanded regarding the mitzvah of giving tzedaka. כִּי-יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחַד אַחֶיךָ, בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ, בְּאַרְצְךָ, אֲשֶׁר- ה אֱלֹקְיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ--לֹא תְאַמֵּץ אֶת-לְבָבְךָ, וְלֹא תִקְפֹּץ אֶת-יָדְךָ, מֵאָחִיךָ, הָאֶבְיוֹן - If there will be among you a needy person, from...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Eikev, the eloquent speech, and impactful teachings, of Moshe Rabbeinu continue. Among the many topics in the parsha, we learn that not by bread alone does man live, but rather from the Emanations of G-d’s Mouth does man live (8:3);...
This week’s sedra, Va’Eschanan, opens with the tefilos of Moshe Rabbeinu to be allowed entry into Eretz Yisrael (E”Y). The opening verses of the parsha tell us of the content and structure of Moshe’s prayer: וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל ה בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹֽר - and I pleaded...
Sefer Devarim, Parshas Devarim. Sefer Devarim differs from the first four books of Chumash, in that those books were dictated by Hashem to Moshe, who transcribed them, while the fifth book - Devarim - are the words of Moshe Rabbeinu himself. In the final days...
Parshas Matos, the first of this week’s double parshios of Matos-Masei, begins with the Torah instructing us regarding the laws of vows and oaths, both for a man and a woman. While these mitzvos are complicated and intricate (and far beyond the scope of this...