Parshat Shavua

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

Haazinu: G-d's servants or His sons?

Only through the combination of two attributes can we fulfill completely the words of the Song that promise: “because it will never be lost from the mouth of their offspring”

The Parsha and Current Events: Forgiveness

There is one scenario which prevents the gentile world from forgiving us for living. It is Jewish boys, born in our Alt-Neuland, sitting under the canopies of F-16s and F-35s and bombing the hell out of Arab Nazis who live only to annihilate the Jewish people.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Haazinu: Looking for an excuse

Denying religious truth is often convenient.

Nitzavim-Vayelech:

The eternal witnesses

How can one compare man, with his abiiity to choose, to the heaven and earth? Commentaries weigh in on the question.

Nitzavim-Vayeilech:

Two endings - and Shana Tova!

Shabbat Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech, in addition to being the final Shabbat of the year, marks two other endings as well.

Nitzavim-Vayelech

“Not in the Heavens”

Torah is accessible to all.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Nitzavim-Vayelech: A tide that doesn’t raise all boats

A Jew can't ride on the coattails of the righteous.

Torah Mitzion on Nitsavim:

Standing before Hashem

Reading the first verses in this Parsha always gives me a feeling of awe, perhaps even fear...

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

We must be happy; we’ve got no choice

Yesterday's parsha has a message that will get us throught these challenging times.

When G-d wants you to compliment yourself

Before I confess my sins, I must confess my greatness.

Ki Tavo:

You’re you, I’m me – but we’re all part of the Nation

We have to realize that what we do affects others – and what they do affects us.

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

Ki Tavo: Serving G-d through joy

Happiness is a critical and essential part of service to God, and we must strive to find this joy within us when we observe the mitzvot.

'This day you have become a people to Hashem'

There is no nation in the land, except for Bnei Israel, as all the nations, compared to it, are as nought, and do not merit being called ‘a nation’.

Ki Tavo:

Are you a parasite?

If our purpose is survival at all costs, we become our own purpose, and that is a recipe for disaster. It leads to violence, wars, theft, murder, and a general breakdown of society.

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook on Ki Tetse:

Faith in troubled times

The beloved Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz HaRav, known as the "father of the settlements" gave a clear message to his fighter students.

Ki Tetse:

Those who are our enemies – and those who aren’t

We need to realize that not everyone hates us; to meet supporters and potential supporters where they are, to work with them, and build deeper understandings and relationships.

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

Ki Tetse: Three mitzvot between man and G-d

In a parsha with tens of mitzvot between man and his fellow man, three are between man and G-d, but that is not coincidental.

Ki Tetse:

Are we the "rebellious sons?"

A selection of commentaries on a difficult Torah commandment, with a surprising twist at the end.

Torah Mitzion: Ki Tetse

A satirical lesson in responsibility

Can parents abrogate the connection with their child? The Torah has an unusual way of answering that question.

Ki Tetse:

The parasha speaks to us today

There are messages for today's situation clearly spelled out in the parasha.

Re’eh:

How we can guide ‘off the derech’ children – and nations

We need G-d’s blessing to continue to ensure that we and our children remain on the right path – and we need His mercy to bring us back from the curse of ongoing alienation from Him.

Re'eh:

The Parsha and Current Events: The ugly truth

Jewish history of 3000 plus years can be likened to an accordion that produces music by intervals of expansion and contraction.

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

Ekev: LIfe's purpose

What does it really mean to be alive? Rabbi Asher Weiss Shlita answers the question.

Parashat Ekev:

"Now O Israel! What does Hashem ask of you?

Reading Rabbi Lazer Gurkow's article this week informs us as to the outcome of reciting blessings. What do the commentaries add to explain the injunction to say 100 blessings each day?

Ekev:

The Alcatraz Syndrome

Yes, freedom and change can be difficult and challenging, but millions of former prisoners have escaped their former prisons and found a wonderful new life in Israel.

Vaetchanan:

The Parsha and Current Events: Use it or lose it

Seventy-six years ago, the gates to Eretz Yisrael were thrown open to all Jews. The call was sounded to return home and receive immediate citizenship under the "The Law of Return". Where were you?

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

Vaetchanan: West and East of the Jordan River

Religious Zionist Torah scholars find connections to the Holy Land in the week's Torah reading.

Vaetchanan:

It’s not a coincidence

Though G-d visits all our sins upon us, punishes us for them, holds us to account for them, He does not and never will entirely annihilate us.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

Hashem’s reputation is in our hands…?

The source for this is a passage of the Torah we all know by heart.

Vaetchanan:

The righteous do not rely on their good deeds

Commentators weigh in on Moshe's pleas to enter the land.

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

Have no fear in the land

Young religious Zionist Torahs scholars find connections to Eretz Yisrael in each parsha.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

Words of encouragement. D’var Torah for Parshat Devarim

The Bracha that Moshe Rabbeinu gives to the Jewish people over all ages is found in this parasha.

The Parsha and Current Events:

Devarim: David vs. Goliath

When the two combatants - the Jewish David and the pagan Goliat were staring at each other’s eyes, what were they thinking?

Devarim:

Two different spy stories

What do our Torah Sages say about the glaring differences in the two accounts of the 12 spies? And an idea for reconciling them.

The first marriage counselor in history

The only Yartzeit mentioned in the Torah is Aaron’s. Why?

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

“How can it be that your brothers go to war and you remain here?”

Could there be a wrong greater than that from an ethical, moral or religious point of view?

Torah Mitzion:

Matot-Masei: Wherever I go, I go to Israel

The conclusion of Bamidbar ends the chapter of the trials of the desert generation, and now they enter a land flowing with milk and honey. Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazek.

Parashat Matot-Mas’ei:

The long and winding road

The Torah is our guide through our journeys in the world, and its 42-line pages remind us that just as God led us to 42 stops as we went forward in the desert, God leads us along all our journeys.

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

The lottery

Why did the Torah require the division of the Land of Israel to be done specifically by a lottery?

True peace in the face of violence

'Moshe and the elders could not recall the proper response to the display of immoral conduct; his great-nephew Pinchas was able to clarify the issue, and speared both Zimri and Kozbi as befitting those who blatantly defame G-d's Name with extreme displays of lewdness.'

Balak: Beware politicians who talk much, but do little

That he couldn’t win the war was irrelevant to Bilaam; what was relevant was that he could keep the game going, gaining more money, fame and honor as it progressed. Like Arafat and Sinwar did.

The fine print of the Jews' right to Israel

Hamas, Hezbollah, and all the others that claim to be connected to Yishmael are demanding the land of Yisrael in contradiction to the fact that Yishmael severed all ties with Avraham, including any rights to the holy land. Read how this occurred.

When a donkey speaks....it is telling us something

The opening of the donkey's mouth teaches us the basic lesson of the entire story.

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

Agony and tribulations are part of Jewish history from the start

Our tribulations bring our people to the requisite question: Why have we endured so much suffering? What is the central reason we have experienced so much pain?

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Balak: Our moral core

Bilaam couldn’t harm us, but our own misbehavior did.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Chukat: Even in the Hour of Death

Why did the rabbis emphasize Torah study in every situation, even on one’s deathbed?

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

Why was Moshe's punishment not entering the Land of Israel?

Moshe is compared to the sun, while Yehoshua to the moon.

Parashat Chukkat: A new generation

Our generation is the generation that was born and raised in Israel, unbowed by exile. And we have demonstrated our determination to win the war and rescue our captives. This week's parasha is the precedent.

"This is the statute of the Torah": Chukat haTorah

Questions and answers of rabbinic commentators on the idea of laws for which we have no reason.

Different groups, different motivation

When an organization is coming with a certain demand, is this a clear black and white issue? Or, are their true interests hidden from view?

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

What comes first, Redemption or Repentance?

In the process of redemption, what comes first: ingathering of the exiles or purification?

The test

A selection of commentaries weighing in on the meaning of the almond branch blossoming staff test.

Parshat Korach

Preserving the authenticity of Judaism

Korach and his cohort fail spectacularly and are swallowed by the earth while yet alive. We can glean from this incident the significance of comprehending that the Torah was given through Moshe, by the direct orders of G-d.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

Korach: ‘One word says it all’

What was at the root of this machloket, this conflict?

What we learn from Korach about living our 'best life'

Be careful what you wish for - or covet.

Parashat Shlach: Truth and consequences

When the Jews of a thousand years in the future look back at our present-day reality, what will they say and write about our generations? What consequences will we, today, bequeath to our ancestors?

The power of one word

Where did the spies go wrong?

The Parsha and Current Events: We need each other

From the time of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai through such time that we will have proven ourselves worthy of the honor of being the chosen nation, we remain steadfastly Am Israel.

Rabbi Berel Wein:

Behaalotcha: The complainers

We are bidden to deal with problems to the extent that we can and not to dwell on them and constantly complain about them.

Eretz Yisrael in the parasha: Initiative in battle for the land

Young religious Zionist scholars find connections between the Torah reading and the Land of israel.