This week’s parsha, Parshas Naso, is the longest parsha in the Torah. This is, in a large part, due to perek zayin (Ch.7), which is 89 pasukim (verses) long! The perek begins with: וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם כַּלּוֹת מֹשֶׁה לְהָקִים אֶת-הַמִּשְׁכָּן, וַיִּמְשַׁח אֹתוֹ וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת-כָּל-כֵּלָיו, וְאֶת-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וְאֶת-כָּל-כֵּלָיו;...
Shavuos: The Yom Tov of Torah. וַיִּקַּח סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית, וַיִּקְרָא בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם וַיֹּאמְרוּ, כֹּל אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּר ה’ נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע, and he (Moshe) took the Book of the Covenant, and he read it in the ears of the nation, and they said: All that Hashem has spoken,...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Bechukosai, we read of the klalos, curses, that will befall our people; a prophecy that has come to fruition one too many time in our long and bitter history of exile. Due to the severity of the curses, these parshios...
This week’s parsha is Parshas Behar. The Torah teaches us about the mitzvos ha’te’luyos ba’aretz (mitzvos that are only kept in the land of Israel) of Shemittah (translated as the seventh Sabbatical year) and Yovel (translated as the 50th Jubilee year). The final pasuk of the...
In פרק כג (Ch. 23) of this week’s parsha, Parshas Emor, we are commanded regarding Shabbos. The pasukim (verses) then move through the entire Jewish calendar year, beginning in Nissan with Pesach, moving on to the Omer offering and the counting of the Omer -...
Yom Ha’atzmaut (observed) 4 Iyar 5779, corresponding to May 9, 2019: 71 years since the establishment of Medinat Yisrael, our new country in our old land. Towards the end of this week’s parsha, Parhas Kedoshim, the pasuk tells us: וָאֹמַר לָכֶם אַתֶּם תִּירְשׁוּ אֶת-אַדְמָתָם, וַאֲנִי אֶתְּנֶנָּה...
This week’s parsha, Parshas Achrei Mos, begins with the following pasuk (verse): And Hashem spoke to Moshe, after the deaths of the two sons of Aharon, when they came close to Hashem, and they died (Vayikra 16:1). This pasuk is referring to an incident mentioned...
Pesach. Layl ha’Seder. An evening of commemoration, celebration, freedom, family and friends. Sedorim around the world begin, not with Kaddesh/Kiddush, but with the recitation of the order of the Seder itself. R’ Yisrael Meir Lau teaches that the order of the Seder is the order...
Nissan 5779: Chag Ha’Matzos, Chag ha’Pesach, Zman Cheiroseinu, Chag Ha’Aviv - the festival of matzah, the holiday of Pesach, the time of our freedom, and the yomtov celebrated in the spring season. Once again, Pesach is here. R’ Soloveitchik zt’l powerfully and evocatively reminisced, “Let me...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Tazria, we learn about the affliction of Tzaraas. Often erroneously translated as leprosy (which is a contagious illness), tzaraas can be more precisely defined as: a spiritual illness with a physical manifestation. The nega tzaraas, the tzaraas affliction, is not...