Chag Ha’Shavuos 5783, Zman Matan Tora’sainu. It is on this yomtov that the Aseres HaDibros were given to the nation (Shabbos 86b - בְּשִׁשִּׁי בַּחֹדֶשׁ נִיתְּנוּ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל): the Ten Mitzvos and Ten Declarations through which G-d revealed Himself to the entire nation, in...
With this week’s sedra, Bamidbar, we open up the fourth book of Torah, sefer Bamidbar. Bamidbar is also known as Sefer ha’Pekudim, the Book of Counting, and in our parsha, Hashem commands Moshe to take a census of the nation, all males between the ages...
This Shabbos is Shabbos Chazak and with this week’s double parshios, Behar-Bechukosai, we once again conclude Sefer Vayikra. In Bechukosai, we read of the terrible klalos (curses) that will befall the nation should it not go in the ways of Hashem. However, in the midst...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Emor, we are commanded regarding the timely mitzvah of Sefiras ha’Omer. B’zman she’Beis HaMikdash haya kaym (in Temple times) on 16 Nissan, the day after the commencement of Chag ha’Matzos, the barley offering was offered in the Temple. This barley...
This week we read the double sedra of Achrei Mos-Kedoshim. Included are the mitzvos and halachos regarding the avodah of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur, forbidden physical relationships, the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael, and the myriad of mitzvos bein adam la’chavairo (mitzvos that govern...
This week we read the double sedra of Tazria-Metzora. The sedra begins in Tazria with the eight pasukim dedicated to the tumas ha’yoledes (spiritual impurity of a woman post childbirth). Following this is a lengthy, detailed and intricate exploration of the spiritual malady of tzara’as,...
Chag ha’Pesach 5783 is upon us. Zman cheiroseinu, the time of our freedom; Chag ha’Aviv - the festival of Spring; and Chag ha’Matzos - the festival of matzah. On leil ha’Seder, we sit around the table with family and guests, simultaneously reliving the slavery and...
This week’s sedra, Vayikra, opens up the third book of Torah. With the opening of Sefer Vayikra, we enter a world of mitzvos far removed from our lives today. Korbanos (animal sacrifices), avodas ha’Mishkan (the service of the Kohanim in the Tabernacle), tumah and ta’harah...
In this week’s double parshios, Vaykhel-Pekudei, the Mishkan is built under the direction of the master craftsmen, Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur from the tribe of Yehuda, and Ohaliav ben Achisamach from the tribe of Dan. After all the plans, instructions and blueprints have been laid...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Ki Sisa, the Bnei Yisrael commit the egregious sin of the Eigel Ha’zahav, the sin of the Golden Calf. With Moshe absent for forty days and forty nights post Revelation at Sinai, the people panic as they miscalculate the moment of...