With this week’s parsha, Parshas Devarim, we begin the fifth and final book of Chumash, also known as Mishneh Torah. Mishneh Torah is the masterful and poetic ‘good bye letter’ (soliloquy) of Moshe Rabbeinu, to the nation which he has loved and led for forty...
This Shabbos we usher in Chodesh Av and the most mournful Nine Days on the Jewish calendar. Once again, in 5781, almost two thousand years after churban Bayis Sheni (destruction of the Second Temple) by the Romans, we are mourning the destruction of the Beis...
It is year forty of desert wanderings. As a result of the sin at Mei Merivah (Bamidbar Ch.20) Moshe’s days are numbered and he will not be leading the Jews into the Land of Israel. Hence, in this week’s parsha, Parshas Pinchas, Moshe asks Hashem...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Balak, Balak, the king of Moav, hires the prophet Bilaam to curse the Bnei Yisrael. It is year forty of desert travels and the Israelite nation covers the eye of the land. A fearful Moav hopes to bring ruination upon...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Chukas, the Torah abruptly shifts from year two of desert wanderings (machlokes Korach) to year forty of desert wandering (Ch.20 of Parshas Chukas). With Miriam’s death, the miraculous well of water that sustained the people through all the years dried...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Korach, we learn of the rebellion of Korach against his first cousins, Moshe and Aharon, the leaders of the Bnei Yisrael. Additionally, he was jealous of the appointment of his other first cousin, Elizaphan (son of Uzziel) as prince over...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Shelach, we learn of the tragic, infamous sin of the Meraglim, the spies, and the subsequent mourning of the nation, as en masse, they rejected the Land of Israel. Before their planned journey into the Holy Land, Moshe sent twelve...
In this week’s parsha, the nation sets out to leave Har Sinai, under the impression that they are about to enter into Eretz Yisrael. How certain is the nation that their arrival in the Land is imminent? Moshe Rabbeinu extends an invitation to Yisro...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Naso, the Torah records the text of the Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Blessings, recited by Aharon and his sons, the Kohanim, for all generations, as they lovingly bless the Children of Israel with Divine grace. And Hashem spoke to Moshe...
Chag Ha’Shavuos 5781. Zman Matan Tora’sainu. Last week saw the Meron Tragedy with its staggering, incomprehensible losses, the murder of 19 year old Hesder student Yehuda Guetta HY”D, shot in the head in a terror attack at the Tapuah Junction in the Shomron, and this...