In this Torah portion, Moses continues his speech to the Israelites. He tells them they will have to annihilate people who are not believers in God. Moses reminds them not to forget God’s commandments even after they enter the land of Israel, and that they must continue to fear God. The Torah portion also mentions […]
What a wonderful parasha this week. Vaetchanan is loaded with magnificent things. The Ten Commandments, the V’ahavta and the Shema are all found in this parasha. Such a sweet week to give a d’var. Sixty-three years ago, this was my bar mitzvah parasha. My bar mitzvah brought so much joy to so many people who […]
Parashat Devarim is read the Shabbat before Tisha B’av, which begins Wednesday night of this upcoming week. Tisha B’av is a day of mourning including a full day fast with the same restrictions as Yom Kippur. We sit on the floor as if we are in the shiva period of mourning. We mourn the destruction […]
After 40 years of journeying through the desert, the people of Israel arrive in the wilderness of Zin. After Miriam dies, there is no more water and the people become thirsty. God tells Moses to speak to a rock and command it to give water. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly of people together in […]
By Michael Carr
After 40 years of journeying through the desert, the people of Israel arrive in the wilderness of Zin. After Miriam dies, there is no more water and the people become thirsty. God tells Moses to speak to a rock and command it to give water. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly of people […]
In this week’s parasha, Sh’lach, which means “send,” God commands Moses to send 12 men to “spy out” the Promised Land before the Israelites enter into battle for its possession.As explained in the parasha, the results of this expedition were less than remarkable for at least ten of the spies. Those spies saw only the […]
Nothing is more difficult than admitting a mistake, but nothing is more human than making one. There are several places where the Torah deals with making mistakes and the merit of admitting one’s mistakes. In our parsha, we learn of the sota, a wife who is suspected of adultery. When the sota is accused, she […]
In today’s parasha Moses asks G-d to give the Israelites divinity, vision, and insight into the future. Moses was given a ‘gift’ that made it easier for the Israelites to understand the message of Torah. In turn this provided more time to live Torah rather than learning how to read.
G-d intended for all Israelites to […]
A few weeks ago Alan introduced us to a D’var Torah written by artificial intelligence of ChatGPT. There is also a Jewish artificial intelligence website called Kosher.chat. It is described as being according to halacha and screens for antisemitic remarks. Here is a Dvar Torah written by Kosher.chat on Parshah Bamidbar.
In Parshah Bamidbar, we learn […]
Thank you for joining me today and helping me celebrate the 59th anniversary of my bar mitzvah. I have tried to give the D’var each year on this day, and I read through some of these recently. On my 50th anniversary, I spoke of the moment – the exact moment – when I became a […]
