Parshat Hashavua

Naso:

Of human dignity

We honor the divine soul and, by extension, the One who implanted it in the human body, by respecting the living as well as the deceased.

Receiving the Torah:

The pedigree of the People of Israel

Because Yaakov chose Hashem to be his G-d, Hashem chose Israel - Yaakov’s nation - to be His special lot.

Bamidbar: Reclaim the Torah for all!

Torah, like the desert, must be open and accessible to all of Am Yisrael, with purity, humility, and patience, so that the nation can return to its highest levels of holiness and spiritual greatness.

Dvar Haftorah for Bamidbar/ Machar Chodesh:

From David’s tears to Jerusalem’s joy

Like the moon, which wanes before it is renewed, the nation of Israel endured periods of concealment and decline but always held fast to the belief that restoration would come.

Yom Yerushalayim and Parshat Bamidbar:

When the Israeli flag returned to the Temple Mount

The return to Jerusalem in 1967 marked not only a military triumph but a stage in the ongoing restoration of Jewish sovereignty in our ancestral land. And perhaps that is the deeper lesson of Parshat Bamidbar for our time.

Parashat Bamidbar:

You were there

Those of us who were born Jewish are not ordinarily described as Jews by choice. But we must always feel tht we have chosen the Torah.

G-d’s unconditional love

G-d cares enough to discipline us. But He does not abandon us.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Bechukotai: Prophetic Letters

Letters are more than just elements of speech. They are the building blocks of creation.

Brit Olam: Noahide Dvar Torah

Libi, Trump, and the Shabbat

Libi came to our Shabbat table once.She was from a faraway country, a student who wanted to understand the Jewish people. She read books. She asked sharp questions. She said something I still remember.

Behar-Bechukotai:

Walking the Land, living the Covenant

Eretz Yisrael is more than a place on the map. It is a crucible in which the Jewish people are called upon to refine their identity and fulfill their mission.

Behar-Bechukotai:

The eternal nation

Am Yisrael is the eternal nation, and the covenant which the Holy One Blessed be He made with us is an eternal and unbreakable covenant.

From the Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

The most remarkable letter in the Hebrew Alphabet

That one letter is also a word and writing four of them in a row also forms a word.

Behar-Bechukotai:

A land that abhors immorality

We should feel that we have a “closer" relationship to Hashem when we stroll through the streets of Eretz Yisrael and the holy city of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), and this should inspire us to a higher level of behavior.

Torah Mitzion: Behar-Bechukotai

Lords of the Land

The pairing of Behar-Bechukotai raises the question: were they originally defined as two parashot later joined when needed, or perhaps originally defined as a single parashah that sometimes had to be split? And what is the role of the Kohanim?

Dvar Haftorah: Behar-Bechukotai

Returning to ourselves

This week's haftorah is a profound statement about resilience, about the ability to endure and even thrive amid adversity when one’s foundations are properly rooted.

Parashat Bechukotai and Yom Yerushalayim

From desolation to defensible borders

We moved from existential fear as described in the parasha to the heights of national renewal, with the climax being the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem, together with the return to Yehudah and Shomron.

Parashat Emor:

Kohanim and festivals

Why did G-d interrupt the sequence of the mitzvot of the Kohanim with the mitzvot of the Festivals?

Emor:

What do I say? A Torah perspective

In a double expression in Parshat Emor, the Torah teaches an important lesson on the responsibility of adults to guide youth and the central role of refined speech and the importance of respectful communication and moral leadership within Am Yisrael.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi: Emor

A Kiddush Hashem in Golders Green

This week's parasha speaks of sanctifying G-d's Name, Kiddush Hashem. At the Golder's Green attack, nobody intended to perform this commandment, but it shone forth from them.

Parashat Emor:

Sanctification among the Children of Israel

The meaning of “holy" is entwined with the sanctification of the Divine Name. How is that done?

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Kedoshim: Lessons in Tzedakah

The Hebrew word for charity, tzedakah, derives from tzedek, meaning “justice."

Haftarat Paraashat Acharei Mot/Kedoshim

In defense of Jerusalem

How the saintly Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, rav of the celebrated Beit Knesset HaGra in Jerusalem, acted with regard to the Haftarah when Parashat Kedoshim was read without being preceded by Acharei Mot.

Shavuot=Yom Kippur??

The Torah portions of Acharei Mot and Kedoshim reveal the deeper role of Yom Kippur as the lasting day of forgiveness and true acceptance of the Torah, offering new insight into its connection with Shavuot.

The Art of Kedusha within the Art of War

In these terrible times of war, in these terrible times of killings and the murder of Jews-times of Acharei Mot-we still remain Kedoshim.

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim:

Are mitzvot enough?

The Rambam teaches that we must say a blessing before we eat any food or enjoy pleasant aromas.

Dvar Haftorah: Acharei Mot/ Kedoshim

The promise of permanence

Could it be that what we commemorate on Yom Haatzma'ut is not merely a political milestone, but the unfolding of a prophetic promise?

Two he-goats, two atonements

Various commentators are brought to bear on the reasons for the two fates for the two he-goats of Yom Kippur.

From the Depth of Loss to Atzma'ut:

The "Klal Gadol" binding us together

On Yom HaZikaron, as we stand in the depth of loss, we see what Rabbi Akiva shouted: We are one family. The soldiers currently on the front lines and those who have fallen do not check who is "religious enough" or "political enough.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi:

How tragedy turns into a reward

In our prayers, we often ask Hashem to bless us with יְשׁוּעָה וְנֶחָמָה, salvation and consolation. Throughout our history, as they do this week, the two come together.

Parshat Tazria-Metzora:

What is the true core of the Torah?

Lessons from the Torah portions of Tazria and Metzora, the exact middle of the Torah, and how all three connect to the days of the Omer.

Tazria-Metzora and Rosh Chodesh:

Signs of Redemption

Isaiah’s magnificent, inspiring prophecies are coming true before our very eyes. They are no longer a matter of faith: they are now tomorrow’s headlines.

Parashat Tazria-Metzora

Parental love

A parent’s attachment to their child can become at odds with the imperative to act in the best interests of the child.

Parashat Tazria-Metzora/Yom Hashoah;

Responding to suffering without clear answers

We remember a world that was destroyed, we look at the threats we face right now, and we are left with that same unanswered question: Why?

Parashat Shemini:

Do you know the way?

The tragic deaths of Nadav and Avihu in Parashat Shemini warn of the terrible danger of humans following their own decrees instead of G-d’s, even when they have the holiest and most exalted of intentions.

Parashat Shemini:

Sins of the righteous

To act based on instinctive feelings of right and wrong, or even powerful religious inspiration, is to undermine the principle of Divine Revelation.

Shemot:

The midwives' legacy

The midwives saw to it that a healthy body was accompanied by a healthy soul. So must we.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi:

Parashat Vayetze and Thanksgiving: To be Jewish is to be grateful

In this week's parasha, Leah thanks G-d when Yehuda is born and we thank G-d every morning before we get out of bed.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Parashat Shlach: The sin of Tzelofchad

We should learn from Tzelofchad’s mistake, and stay focused on that which is enduring and eternal, and not confuse the way-station for the final destination.

Parashat Tsav:

Mindfulness in the service of G-d - and advice on enhancing it

The daily lifting of the ash, which was performed by the Kohen as part of the Temple service, did not serve the practical purpose of keeping the Altar clean. What then was the objective of this Mitzvah?

Parashat Vayikra:

When religion becomes self worship

When you give ten thousand dollars to charity, do you think about how much gratitude you deserve or how grateful you are to help?

Parashat Vayikra:

Why the little Alef?

The letter alef (א) at the end of the word ויקרא is written smaller than the rest of the word. Many explanations have been given for this unusual phenomenon, but the Zohar's is an entire way of looking at the commandments.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Vayechi: Fishy Blessings

What kind of blessing is it when Yaakov prays that his grandchildren increase like fish in the land?

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

He who lives in Eretz Yisrael has a G-d

Young religious Zionist scholars find connections between each week's Torah reading and the Holy Land.

Restoring Sensitivity:

A call to unity and responsibility

As part of the Jewish people we must shoulder the weight of our collective destiny and responsibility for the welfare of our people.

Talking Parsha - Yitro

Are there '10 Commandments'??

If these are commandments, where is the command?

Talking Parsha - Beshalach:

Amalek - what's with Moshe's hands??

What prompts Moshe to raise his hands, and what significance does this gesture hold?

Connecting two very different negative mitzvot

The Torah puts the verse regarding the commandment of Not Eating Blood next to the commandment of Orlah (Lev.19:23). Why?

Shabbat Behabbato: Terumah

Selected leading rabbis share their thoughts on this week's Torah Reading.

Who has the right to give?

There is a contrast between the type of charitable giving in Parashat Terumah and Parashat Ki Tisa.

Leading through darkness Parshat Vayechi

The real summation of Jacob’s last years emerges in a conversation he has, not with Joseph, but with Pharaoh.

Mattot: Beauteous and Evil

Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Beware of beauty that covers up morally repulsive behavior.

Pinchas: The buck stops here

Weekly Torah Study: Pinchas.

Mattot: Will you stay or will you go?

You will see them with their knitted kipot, M16s over their shoulders, returning from a shiur by the rosh yeshiva, an IDF officer. And you?

Sefas Tamim: The Emes parasha sheet

The parasha in halakha, mussar, and with words of chizuk .

Mattot: Words are binding

Everything that is uttered from our mouths obligates us to the commitment attached to it.

Pinchas: Why harass the Midianites and not the Moabites?

A selection of rabbinic commentaries on the question.

Mattot (Israel):Do you know what you’re fighting for?

Today in Israel religious soldiers prove to be dedicated fighters. Like the fighters in the parasha, they know what they are fighting for. .

Constancy and consistency

The greatest framework of spiritual life without which that life begins to wither and die is consistent, constant faithfulness to mitzvot.

Balak: A shlemiel

Jewish tradition does not often create aphorisms in vain. Here is the story of the first shlemiel.

The great message of the Pinchas Episode

The essence of the kohanic personality is to be responsible for the nation, overriding his personal interests.