Judaism focuses primarily on this world, not the next one.
Like the haftarot for this special season, which begin with rebuke and end with comfort , our collective Jewish story is one of shared struggle and hope.
Love Truth and Peace will set us on the road to salvation.
Hashem Echad, God’s Unity in the Quantum Field.
Plots and characters in the Torah portend what lies in store for the Jewish people. Balaam tried cursing the Jews - and it might be a good idea for the Israel demonizers to note what happened to him.
Hashem wants the world to be developed, not just populated.
The Sara Litton z”l Monthly Emunah Essay for Tammuz.
It is difficult to exaggerate the value of Herzl’s work for the Jewish people and the realization of the vision of redemption.
How? How do we retain the flame within, how do we retain our holiness, our sacred light despite the gloom by which we are engulfed?
You will have to search - but if you search, you will find the consolation, the ever-so-subtle hint that Torah, Jewish history, has not come to its end.
Why is it appropriate to mention the Land of Israel as part of the Av Harachim prayer for those martyred to sanctify G-d's Name? Divrei Torah from young Religious Zionist Torah scholars.
Salvation often grows from within crisis. What seems like delay or darkness is really a hidden advance toward the light.
On the ultimate meaning of Jewish existence.
When we do things right, dwelling alone expresses itself in our commitment to our unique mission as Klal Yisrael rather than in our isolation.
The introductory phrase that tells us that Bilaam “Raised his declaration” appears to be unnecessary, as well as a somewhat mystifying description of what occurred, and is noticed by the commentaries.
By anticipating our national destiny — by dreaming of it, speaking of it, praying for it — we nurture the seed. with the power to help bring it to fruition.
This parasha actually ends the era of Moses and opens the era of Joshua. It opens the gates to the Land of Israel with all its blessings and challenges.
The aim of Balak and Bilam to create division among Israel did not succeed. The enemies of Israel today, who seek to dispossess us of our Land and to destroy us, also understand what Balak and Bilaam understood.
Living a 3,300 year-old prophesy in our times, hoping the second part comes to pass as well.
As we chant the Torah portion this week, it is our privilege and duty to thank G-d for the magnificent miracles we experienced in our lifetimes. They are of the same caliber as biblical miracles and like the blessings recited by the Bilam, except that we were privileged to witness them.
Our Sages took care to maintain this separation, enacting decrees so that we do not mingle with the nations, such as forbidding their wine, lest we thereby come close to their daughters, and the like.
Because of the ongoing political-military-religious fireworks our concentration becomes distorted, and we are often oblivious to that factor which is closest to us, namely - ourselves.
Clarifying some of the laws of modesty in an interview with Rabbi Mordechai Tzion.
The Torah only forbids magic because it tries to short-circuit Divine justice.
Could Bilam really wreak havoc on the Jews? What exactly is the power of a curse? Can a human by the mere verbalization of certain words effectuate changes in the real world?
A donkey that can talk is not an original invention for the Shrek movie; we are actually going to read about it in the portion of the week.
Torah is not a series of logic games and intellectual exercises. It’s simply following G-d’s commands.
Following the loss of the tradition of placing techelet in tzitzit, there are disputes and doubts that we have no possibility to resolve.
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.
Whether in the world of mitzvot or in the circuitry of electricity, the journey from possibility to actuality follows a similar path.
The joy over the star of the movie Superman being Jewish is misplaced. Halakhically, he really isn't Jewish, unless he converts.
What was so terrible about hitting the rock?
Kadesh is a place that can be the scene of a great sanctification of God’s name - or of a great desecration. The Israelites learned great lesson there.
Have you ever been bitten by a "venomous snake"? Poisoned by harmful people, burnt by life, or by abusive situations? These are good questions that cannot be answered easily. But one perspective is presented in the story of the serpents.
It is impossible to deduce what God truly wants simply by observing the ways of the world. Our service of God can only be guided by those directives which God explicitly transmitted through His Torah.
‘This is truly ‘a gift’ - as our parsha promises - to become like a well of flowing water - of Torah.’
Haym Salomon, an observant Jew, was a hero of America's 1776 Revolutionary War.
This Mitzvah serves to illuminate to us that the Torah, at its core, is divine wisdom.
Why doesn’t Hashem simply suspend the attack of the serpents without introduction of this strange symbol?
This new generation is the generation of life. Parashat Parah Adumah is written here to symbolize the purity and the life that will begin at the end of the wilderness generation, which is dead.
The section on the Red Heifer, teaching purification from the impurity of death, is a preventive measure, a spiritual remedy for the inner trauma of the anticipated encounter with death in Israel’s wars for its Homeland.
Today marks my father’s yahrtzeit. Later in the day we will visit his resting place on the Mount of Olives The view there is spectacular and you don’t have to worry about alligators devouring the body the way you do in Boca Raton where my parents lived before I brought them on Aliyah.
Just as we are told to take a leap of faith about the commandments, so are we asked to take a leap of trust about life's events. It is easier, however, to take the leap of faith than the leap of trust.
In Chukat, the snake on the pole was not magic. It was a mirror.
Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef visits the Hostage Families Forum Headquarters and met with the families of the hostages who continue to be held in Gaza.
Speech is the currency of connection, and has the power to work in ways both good and bad.
The Canaanite king of Arad had an Amaekite goal. He fought Israel attempting to annihilate them, and took captives. History repeats itself.
With so many men dead, who would tell the youth about yetzias Mitzrayim?
Rashi seems to be saying that the sin of Moshe consisted in his deviating from the command of Hashem to speak to the rock instead of hitting it. But why would Moshe, the faithful servant, not do exactly what he was told?
Is it proper to recite a blessing on the military success in Iran? Is it correct to define what happened there as a miracle?
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 Rebbe spoke out against proposed agreements to surrender pieces of the Land of Israel to foreign sovereignty.
'Genuine holiness is an altruistic striving for good for its own sake, not out of self-interest.'
If we are willing to face a painful truth, we can learn a very important lesson from this. There is no guarantee that a very learned person will also be a great Tzadik (righteous person).
The primary quality of a Kohen Gadol, of a High Priest, of a man of G-d, is his or her ability to transform lifeless sticks into living orchards. In tribute to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, for His 31st Yartzeit.
During the generation leading up to the Churban, the wickedness of women was even more pronounced than that of men. What could explain such a drastic shift?
The State of Israel is saving the world from the tyrants of destruction in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza. Israel gave the United States the courage to help destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. Where does this courage come from?
Moshe understood that this effort on the part of Korach in reality stood to undermine the entire Torah
The existence of the State, in and of itself, is a mitzvah, and transgressions performed within it do not invalidate its sanctity.
