In Parshas Nitzavim, the first of this week’s double parshios - Netzavim-Vayelech - the Torah highlights the mitzvah of teshuva, repentance and return. Not for naught is this parsha always read before Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Elul. Elul is the month when...
In parshas Ki Savo, the Torah enumerates the second set of klalos (curses) that are found in the Chumash. The first tochacha (rebuke) is found in Bechukosai (Vayikra Ch.26 - the forty-nine curses given Har Sinai), and the second set is found in our parsha. ...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Ki Seitzei, we are commanded regarding the mitzvah of ha’shavas aveidah, returning a lost item to its owner. The pasukim instruct us: לֹֽא־תִרְאֶה֩ אֶת־שׁ֨וֹר אָחִ֜יךָ א֤וֹ אֶת־שֵׂיוֹ֙ נִדָּחִ֔ים וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ֖ מֵהֶ֑ם הָשֵׁ֥ב תְּשִׁיבֵ֖ם לְאָחִֽיךָ - you shall not see the ox of...
Towards the end of Parshas Shoftim, the Torah deals with the topic of going to war. כִּי-תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל-אֹיְבֶךָ, וְרָאִיתָ סוּס וָרֶכֶב עַם רַב מִמְּךָ--לֹא תִירָא, מֵהֶם: כִּי-ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ עִמָּךְ הַמַּעַלְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם - When you go out to war against your enemies, and you see horse...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Re’eh, the Torah commands us regarding the shalosh regalim: Pesach, Shavuos and Succos (Devarim 16:1-17). It is these three festivals that shape our calendar year and together, they form the foundations of our nation. Pesach commemorates the miraculous Exodus from Egypt,...
In Parshas Eikev, the beautiful and stirring words of Moshe Rabbeinu, during the last days of his life, continue to inspire, elevate and teach us. One of the main themes of the final teachings of Moshe is the topic of our beloved Land, Eretz Yisrael. ...
Shabbos Nachamu, which always follows Tisha B’Av, is so named for the words of the Haftorah: נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ, עַמִּי--יֹאמַר, אֱלֹקֹיכֶם, Comfort, comfort, My nation, says your G-d; Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her, for she has become full [from] her host,...
As we mourn for Tzion and Yerushalayim - the churban of old, the ongoing bitterness of exile, and recent calamities and our year of mourning, Hashem yerachem - below is a selection of recent/all-new shiurim for Tisha b’Av. Additionally, for those who are in the area,...
Av 5784. The month of our mourning for churban Batei Mikdash (the destruction of both Temples, Bayis I by the Babylonians, and Bayis II by the Romans), the exile of Tzion and Yerushalayim, and all our travails that have befallen us in exile since that...
In the second of this week’s double parshios, Parshas Masei, the Torah records the event of the death of Aharon ha’Kohen. The pasukim tell us: וַיִּסְעוּ, מִקָּדֵשׁ; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּהֹר הָהָר, בִּקְצֵה אֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם, and they journeyed from Kadesh, and they camped at Hor Ha’Hor, on...