In this week’s parsha, Parshas Mishpatim, the giving of the Torah continues with law after law -Mishpatim, which govern social order. While the focus of Parshas Yisro is the exalted, awe-inspiring and holy revelation at Sinai, the focus of Parshas Mishpatim is how to apply...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Yisro, the Israelite nation finds itself in the Wilderness of Sinai. בַּחֹדֶשׁ, הַשְּׁלִישִׁי, לְצֵאת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם--בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה, בָּאוּ מִדְבַּר סִינָי - In the third month from when the Children of Israel left the land of Egypt, on that day,...
This week’s Dvar Torah is dedicated to the memory of my maternal grandfather’s daughter, Devora bas Yitzchak a’h HY”D, who was born in Poland in 1941, R”L, the week of Parshas Beshalach. She was named Devora for the weekly haftorah of Beshalach, after the prophetess...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Bo, the Hebrew slaves begin their long march to freedom. After ten destructive plagues, which decimate a once powerful Pharaonic Egypt, Pharaoh relents and lets the Israelites go free. It is the tenth and final plague, Maakas Bechoros (death to the...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Va’era, the redemption from Pharaonic Egypt begins to unfold. A tyrannic, murderous king, who refuses to free the Israelite slaves, along with his willing countrymen, will soon meet their end. The process begins in this week’s parsha with the first...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Shemos, the shibbud Mitzrayim (Egyptian enslavement) commences with full force. As was in Nazi Germany, the Hebrews in Egypt are libeled and subjected to slander, harassed with financial oppression, subjugated with forced slave labor, and finally, horrifically tortured with infanticide,...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayechi, the curtain closes on the book of Bereishis. As we read the final verses of the first book of the Torah, we marvel at the passage of time. Did we not just read “In the beginning G-d created the...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayigash, we learn of the emotional, tear-filled revelation of the Egyptian viceroy, as the ruler of Ancient Egypt and antiquity, powerfully and stunningly declares (what may arguably be the most famous words in all of Bereishis): אֲנִי יוֹסֵף, הַעוֹד אָבִי...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Mikeitz, Yosef the Hebrew, Yosef the slave-boy, Yosef who was stolen from the land of the Ivriim, Yosef, who can’t seem to catch a break from the troubles that befall him, suddenly, without scarcely a moment’s notice, becomes Yosef The...
In this week’s dramatic parsha, Parshas Vayeishev, we move full-steam ahead into the story of Yosef ha’Tzaddik (Yosef the righteous) …. Yosef, whose mother died in childbirth with his younger brother, Binyamin; Yosef, who spends too much time fixing his hair and eyelashes; Yosef, the...