Tzav: Here is a riddle for you:
What it says on the tin should be what you find within it.
How do we continue to trust in G-d when He allows us to be rocketed by so much evil and darkness?
Our mission and our ancestors’ mission are one and the same.
Israel's first chief rabbi: "Our world is inherently imperfect, and God’s kindness is not always readily apparent."
March Madness involves basketball. This March, our beloved Israel, and World Jewry, are suffering a different and far-more insidious madness, called antisemitism. Op-ed.
The rest of the world is also beginning to recognize the unique value of Israel’s religiously committed population.
When the Rebbe of Belz came on aliyah, he said, ‘We realize now that we erred in our estrangement from Eretz Yisrael.’
Because Mordechai gathered all the Jews, the Jewish people were saved. Unity is the key to redemption.
It is the month of Adar, the month of rebirth, of hopefulness. And yet, a white cloud of disbelief lends an atmosphere of disbelief, to the lovely scene. We ask, When? For how long?
“Brief” encounters can lead to devastation.
UN demands cessation of all gragger spinning. Ahashveros confused again - cannot seem to tell the difference between Haman and Mordechai.
To present an example that is happening right before our eyes; Why is the entire world focused, and even obsessed with Israel?
Dramatic announcement of the DOA.
Every nation, every culture which ever felt threatened by the knowledge of G-d was determined to exterminate, to kill, and to destroy all the Jews, from young to old, babies and women.
Our Sages expound the word ‘Saying’ in the first pasuk in several ways, feeling that it is superfluous, as immediately after it - in the second pasuk - the Torah again says:’Speak to Bnei Israel, and say to them.’
Israel's first Chief Rabbi had a unique tradition for Purim festivities and his students took part. In the middle of his speech, Rav Kook suddenly stood up and began to sing with great elation, “Do not fear, My servant Jacob! Do not fear, do not fear!”
R’ Moshe Feinstein asks the obvious – if G-d’s voice was to be heard by Moshe alone, why does the Torah allude to the might and majesty of G-d’s communications? What purpose was served by this miracle?
Young religious Zionist Torah scholars connect the parasha and the Holy Land.
How does the small 'aleph' in the first work of Vayikra - a minor nuance - contribute to the deeper meaning? And why is the book named after its first word? Join us as we uncover the connection between Vayikra, Shabbat Zachor, and Purim.
Animosity is often better than indifference.
Torah Mitzion for Shabbat Zachor and Purim.
October 7th demonstrates the cause of Jew-hatred.
In our generation, when there is no known Amalek, we must uphold the root of the mitzvah, which is to eradicate evil and wage uncompromising war, even when our merciful nature seeks peace
One of the most startling and heartwarming outcomes of this war has been the assembly of the Jewish people in battle and in support of one another.
Refusing to kill Amalek, keeping Amalek alive, isn’t a surfeit of compassion. It’s the opposite: it is a perversion of compassion. Exterminating evil is the truest compassion.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
The Rabbi tells Islamic scholars: "According to Judaism, the faith of Islam is not fundamentally excluded."
'Esther's Wisdom' - A collection of essays for Purim by the Matan Kitvuni Fellows, women scholars and educators.
The call for active participation in tefillah and fasting on the Fast of Esther (March 21) on behalf of the many acute needs of our people has come from across the spectrum, including rabbinic leaders, the Hostages Forum, and the President of Israel.
As a Jew myself, I have some questions for you, Charles Schumer and Jonathan Glazer.
The Prophet Amos describes the punishment of Gaza for its sins. May we be privileged to see the fire that devours Gaza.
As a youth in Argentina, my father-in-law Reb Tuvia Katz z”l stood out because of his leadership qualities. Upon immigrating to Israel, he drew dozens of young people in his wake.
Rabbi Kook sought to explain how an enlightened, industrialized, and cultured Europe could unleash such destructive barbaric forces that brought the world to a cataclysmic and death-filled war. Nothing has changed.
Part 4: Shabbos as the source of all holiness.
Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars connect the parasha to Eretz Yisrael.
Gur Aryeh [a supercommentary on Rashi written circa. 1550] asks the obvious–the Torah has just spent hundreds of Pesukim describing the building of the Mishkan, and all that went in to it, and finally, at the culmination of the process, when the last details and accountings are being presented to the Jews–the Torah chooses to allude to the eventual destruction of it all.
The whole process of building the tabernacle is only a stage in reaching the real thing, building the Temple.
As we conclude the book of Shemot and the construction of the Mishkan, Hashem instructs Moshe to set it up. A notable emphasis is placed on the verb "setting up" (קום) in the Torah.
The day Moses became a bookkeeper.
Where do these people come from? From a great perception of Torah, which we call "the Torah of the Land of Israel" in the way of Rabbi Kook.
The book of Shemot ends on a triumphant note.
At the end of the Book of Shmot, Moshe cannot enter the Tent of Assembly and the shechina has not yet spoken with him!
The best of all choices is to thank Hashem for returning us to Eretz Yisrael, a holy home that we can love and defend in all circumstances.
An in depth study of the ancient works of of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
Why couldn’t the Jews erect the Mishkan at night?
We cried over the fact that Yehonatan was not there but also celebrated Aviyah and his family’s resolve to continue raising their children with the timeless traditions of the Jewish people.
What would he say about the abysmal lack of knowledge about Judaism of so many Jews?
With all respect to you, Joe Biden, who are you to tell us not to route out evil? With all respect to you, Netanyahu, who do you fear more, Biden or God?
Esther teaches us that when the nation faces an existential threat, the rules of pikuach nefesh change. Megillat Esther helps us understand how Jewish law views the sacrifice of our soldiers.
Rabbi Yitschak Yossef's statements must be understood in the context of how the issue of haredi draft is being used for politial ends. In truth, for the IDF, the enlistment of ten-thousand Haredim would be more of a headache than a salvation.
In human behavior and thought, time is as important as wealth or location or the accomplishment of any human deeds.
Whatever skill we might have, we must ask ourselves, how we can use it for G-d?
Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The structure of the Tabernacle corresponded to the entire universe.
After thousands of years of no homeland, no Beit Hamikdash, exile and persecution, our National Identity in the metaphysical sense has been the mitzvah of Shabbat – it warms the heart and soul of the Jewish people like no other.
A tribute to my dear student Nadiv.
Why does Moshe introduce Bezalel by saying, 'Look?' Where was Bezalel summoned, and what meaning does his summoning have for us today?
Subtle shifts in the order of commandments let us glean a profound lesson.
The whole of Hashem’s wish in the offerings of the Mishkan was as an atonement for the sin of the calf, to thereby again cleave to Hashem. Careful reading shows that.
From the entrance to Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel, a message for Shabbat Shalom.
Jews the world over, estranged for decades if not generations, have been forced to return to the Jewish body, to recognise that their destiny is Jewish destiny.