Nitzavim is Moses’ third and final discourse. He pours his heart out to the Israelites one last time. One senses the urgency of Moses’ message: “Hear me! This is life and death we are talking about. It is not just the natural cycle of being. What’s at stake is what it means to be alive […]
Is it ever okay to challenge God’s decisions and actions? In our parashah, God reveals to Abraham that he will destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. God had every right to destroy the cities, and it is likely that anyone who was familiar with the cities would agree. But then […]
In our Parshah, Moses began the first of three discourses to the children of Israel. He talks about the The Way We Were. It isn’t surprising that he started his farewell speech with the Memory of what he and the people have been through together. He thought The Children Will Listen now. He told them […]
This is the first Parshah of the fifth book of the torah, Deuteronomy. Because Israel’s primary duty to God is obedience of his laws, it is imperative that every Israelite be taught those laws. This is Moses’ main goal in Deuteronomy. Thirty-seven days before his passing, Moses begins his repetition of the Torah to the […]
In this parshah, the Israelites complain about the unpleasantness of their journey, exasperating both God and Moses.
First, the people complain that they are moving too fast. God sends a fire that consumes people at the edge of the camp. Moses prays and God withdraws the fire. Next, there are more complaints. The people are tired […]
When I first looked at this week’s parshah, I saw it was about leprosy and I thought to myself as an infectious diseases doctor,” Finally, something I can understand.” We learn about the metzora, a person suffering from a skin affliction named tzara’at, which is inaccurately translated as leprosy and has nothing in common with […]
In parshah Terumah, God says to Moses,” They shall make for me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell amongst them.” On the summit of Mount Sinai, Moses is given detailed instructions on how to construct this dwelling for God so that it could be readily dismantled, transported and reassembled as the people journeyed the desert.
In […]
Many Jewish parents embrace a custom of blessing their children every Friday evening. This custom is a nice way of bringing gratitude and spirituality to your family. We have seen our son-in-law bless each of his children, our grandchildren, during Shabbat dinner and it a heartwarming moment. The words of the blessings are taken from […]
In this week’s parashah we read the story of Noah. The parashah begins with the following statement: “Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age.” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes that Noah is the only individual in Tanakh described as righteous. No such praise is given to Abraham or Moses or any of […]
Living in Israel will entail additional obligations, and in the beginning of this parashah Moses describes one of these additional obligations: Bikkurim- the first-fruit ceremony. The mitzvah of Bikkurim will be fulfilled long after Moses has died, after the conquest of the land and division of tribal portions, after homes are built, and after fields […]
