"G-d said, it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a help-opposite for him" (Genesis 2:18).

With these words, the very first value judgment made by G-d, the Creator alerts us to one of the most basic existential issues of humanity. A…

Numerous rabbinical decrees were designed to protect Torah laws. For example, the Sages extended the Torah’s prohibition of eating milk and meat together to include fowl, since it confused people who did not distinguish between fowl and ‘real’ meat.

There are, however, a few cases in which…

What made our generation the very special generation – after almost 2000 years of exile – to have merited the return to our national homeland, the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel? Why are we the privileged ones who are able to give thanks to the…

The following episode, taken from this week’s portion, Ki Tavo, raises several questions.

On the day that you cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord your G-d gives you, you shall set up great stones and plaster them with lime. And you shall write upon them all the…

"When ... any of your brothers is poor, do not harden your heart or shut your hand against your needy brother. Open your hand generously, and extend to him any credit he needs to take care of his wants." [Deut. 15:7-8]

Here are two stories that illustrate Rav…

The Torah clearly expects us to feel both love and awe for God:

"And now, Israel, what does God want of you? Only that you remain in awe of the Lord your God, following in all His paths and loving Him." [Deut. 10:12]

What is awe of God? Why…

Rabbi Akiva’s Martyrdom

When the Romans decreed that teaching Torah is a crime punishable by death, Rabbi Akiva’s reaction was not surprising. The pre-eminent scholar, former spiritual leader of the Bar Kochba revolt, gathered people together and gave public Torah lectures.

Before long, Rabbi Akiva was charged and…

  What is Di Zahav? 

The book of Devarim opens with a detailed description of the location where Moses gave his final speeches:

"These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel on the east bank of the Jordan river ... in the vicinity of Paran, Tofel,…

God commanded Moses to attack Midian in revenge for their devastating scheme against the Israelites. The Midianites had used their daughters to lure the Jewish men into worshipping the licentious idolatry of Peor, resulting in Divine anger and a terrible plague.

The war against Midian was a remarkable…

"Pinchas...zealously avenged My cause among the Israelites… Therefore, tell him that I have given him My covenant of peace." [Num. 25:11-12] 

Why did God present Pinchas, the archetypical zealot, with a covenant of peace? What was the nature of this covenant?

The Prayer of Shmuel HaKatan

The…

Torah Portion of the Week

As the Israelites neared the end of their forty-year trek in the wilderness, they lost two great leaders, Miriam and Aaron. While a tremendous loss for the nation, their passing had a hidden spiritual benefit.

The Torah informs us of Miriam’s death immediately…

Torah Portion of the Week

Judaism has an interesting concept called a minyan, a prayer quorum. Special prayers sanctifying God’s name (such as the "kedusha" and kaddish prayers) may only be said when ten men are present. An individual may pray in solitude, but without a minyan, certain…

Numbers 13:1-15:41

Who were the real culprits in the story of the scouts, and what-and why-was the nature of their transgression? That sin reverberates throughout the generations of Jewish history, with the night in which the entire congregation lifted up their voices and wept upon hearing the scouts’…

  Moses Separates from His Wife

"Miriam and Aaron began speaking against Moses regarding the dark- skinned woman he had married." [Num. 12:1]

What exactly was their complaint against Moses?

According to Targum Onkelus and Rashi, they were upset that Moses had separated from his wife Tzipporah,…

Numbers 8:1-12:13

"The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Make two trumpets of silver; make them of hammered work. They shall serve you to summon the community (edah) and cause the camps (mahanot) to journey (Numbers 10:1,2)… And when you shall come to wage war in your land, against…

Numbers 1:1 - 4:20

I constantly marvel at the extent to which the Hebrew calendar educates – and never more subtly and strikingly than in the Megillah Scroll with which our spring festivals begin and the Megillah Scroll with which our spring festivals conclude:…

Behar- Bechukotai

(Levit. 25.1-27.34)

Torah portion of the week

Ask any farmer - agricultural labor is hard work. Plowing, planting, weeding, pruning, harvesting, and so on. That, however, is not how it was supposed to be.…

Leviticus 21:1-24:23

What does it mean to be holy, to be spiritual, to be really and genuinely religious (and not merely observant)? And, especially in light of this particular period of the calendar year when we in Israel memorialize Holocaust Day and Memorial Day,…

Leviticus 16:1-20:27

Is halakha (Jewish law) the maximum ideal towards which we must strive, or the minimal expectation of conduct which is necessary for a well-ordered and ethical society? In the words of Dr. Eugene Korn, (in a masterful article he wrote for Edah), is…

Leviticus: 9:1-11:47

One of the most moving ritual experiences of the Jewish week is the havdallah (lit. separation) ceremony, when we intone the sweet –sad melody chanting. "Behold, the Lord of my salvation in Whom I trust and thus I do…