Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: Balak

The “black arts” don’t exist

The Torah only forbids magic because it tries to short-circuit Divine justice.

Parashat Balak:

Fatal seduction

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?

Parashat Chukat:

"Ascend o well - call out to it"

‘This is truly ‘a gift’ - as our parsha promises - to become like a well of flowing water - of Torah.’

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi: Chukat

Beyond human logic

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.

Parashat Chukat:

Complaints, the serpent, and the Simchat Torah War

Why doesn’t Hashem simply suspend the attack of the serpents without introduction of this strange symbol?

Parashat Chukat and its Haftorah:

The Power of words to break or build

Speech is the currency of connection, and has the power to work in ways both good and bad.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Chukat: The women saved the day

With so many men dead, who would tell the youth about yetzias Mitzrayim?

Parashat Chukat:

Honesty in the service of Hashem

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?

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Korach: Holiness in the midst of the community

'Genuine holiness is an altruistic striving for good for its own sake, not out of self-interest.'

Parashat Korach:

Who can you trust?

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).

Parashat Korach:

The Levite who wanted to be High Priest

Did the intelligent Korach not feel the contradiction in his words?

Parashat Korach:

The complainers

The existence of the State, in and of itself, is a mitzvah, and transgressions performed within it do not invalidate its sanctity.

The Parsha and Current Events:

Korach: Trump bombed our enemies, FDR refused to bomb tracks

Iran will remain a world threat because the U.S. and Israel did not finish the job in the fashion dictated in the Torah. But we must recognize that Trump made up for FDR's refusal to bomb the tracks leading to Auschwitz.

Parashat Shlach:

A resounding rejection of the Sin of the Spies

There are currently more than 100,000 Israelis abroad, stranded in dozens of countries ever since this current war closed the airspace above Israel. Yet the overriding concern of all these Israelis abroad is how to come home despite the missiles from Iran.

Parashat Shlach:

The best life advice

Your primary interest should be to create a pleasant environment for others to enjoy. And that message is in the words of Hashem to Moshe.

Parashat Shlach:

Like grasshoppers? Not at all

On the most basic level, the Sin of the Spies was that they were overcome by fear and communicated their despair to the nation. The lessons of this episode are very relevant to the current situation.

Parashat Shlach:

Juxtaposition - and not by chance!

Answering an age-old question: Why does the story of the spies follow the story of Miriam's punishment for slander?

The attraction of golus and the spies' spiritual failure

It’s safer in the Beis Medrash. It’s safer in exile-mode. It’s spiritually cleaner to stay away from politics, from armies, from national responsibility. Just what the spies wanted.

The Parsha and Current Events:

Your holy Jewish name

Our sources deal with the spiritual aspects of naming a child - boy or girl.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi: Naso

The benefits of the Sotah Waters

The Sages debate the exact nature of the positive effect of the Sotah waters.

Parashat Naso:

The sanctity of Aaron

The Kohen loves the people and they, in turn, love him.

The Parsha and Current Events:

The Torah as a way of life

The ultimate CHOK, which is beyond all human understanding, is the day-to-day lives we lead in Eretz Yisrael, with our phenomenal success in all walks of life.

Parashat Naso:

Building continuity

This week’s parsha, Naso, contains a passage so familiar that its poetry sometimes hides its depth: the Priestly Blessing. What is its message?

A pressing current question:

Do we find sanctity in withdrawal or engagement?

This debate is not just philosophical—it is playing out today in Israeli society.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Bamidbar: Flags of love

The Jewish people sought to uncover and emphasize every individual’s personal strengths, and thus chose banners for each tribe, but no banners flew over the central Tent of Meeting.

Understanding the 'new offering' of Shavuot

We can glean from the sacrifice of the day a poignant perspective as to how to relate to the learning of the Torah.

Parashat Bamidbar:

Make your desert bloom

When we read the Torah portion this Shabbat about transforming individuals into a group and a desert into a city, let’s take the message to heart.

The Parsha and Current Events:

Once the axe falls there is no turning back

With an unpredictable, albeit pro-Israel, president in the US, this is the time to make aliya - do not postpone it!

Parashat Bamidbar:

Why was the tribe of Levi so much smaller than all the others?

Torah commentaries address the reason for the small number of levites when compared to every other tribe.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi:

The symbolism of the desert

There are many explanations as to the significance of deserts, of wildernesses, within our tradition.

Parashat Behar-Bechukotai:

Bigger bombs aren’t the answer

The full solution is in the parsha this week.

Parashat Behar-Bechukotai:

Answering the famous question about shmitta and Mount Sinai

The shmita year reminds the Jewish people that they are slaves of G-d, and therefore everything they own should be used to serve Him, whether land or people.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

Make those moments last.

D’var Torah for Parshat Behar: Ramban says that Yovel, the Jubilee year in our parasha, means taking something forward.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch: Behar-Bechukotai

Inner peace

This parsha contains the secret to overcoming anxiety and self-doubt.

The Parsha and Current Events:

Global natural disasters

We might be seeing now the beginning of the period where one evil nation wages war on another evil one, while in the background their countries are being ravaged by Hashem’s manipulation of natural disasters.

Haftarat Behar-Bechukotai

Individual responsibility, collective rewards

In moments of personal hardship, it is natural to wonder: Why am I not being rewarded for my efforts? The Torah’s answer is painful, but empowering.

Parashat Behar-Bechukotai:

The good news

The Torah says that during the exile of the Jewish people, as they wandered the ends of the Earth, the Land of Israel will be desolate and barren, unable to support large thriving populations. And then comes the next part.

Parashat Emor:

Kohanim and independence

Though we are once again sovereign in our ancestral homeland for the first time since the days of Queen Shlom-Zion, the murderers still stalk us. And though tragedy strikes, we are in an incomparably better situation than we have been at any time since Queen Shlom-Zion.

Torah Mitzion:

Why so negative?

What can connect the disparate commandments in Parashat Kedoshim?

A survey of commentaries:

'Do not do as Egypt did, nor Canaan'

Commentaries weigh in on what exactly this prohibition means.

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

Violations of which sins bring about exile?

Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars connect the weekly Torah reading with the Land of Israel.

Achrei-Mot-Kedoshim:

A peek into the Super-Conscious

This is not a world one can describe because one can only experience it from within oneself. In this world, we lose the very self to the magnetic pull of profound oneness.

Parashat Tazria-Metzora

Conundrum: The difference in purification time between births

‘Why are the periods of impurity - and then purity - of the mother who gives birth to a girl, double the periods where she gives birth to a male?’

Parashat Shmini:

The power of the eighth day

Parashat Shmini opens on the eighth day, the 1st of Nissan.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Shmini: Immersion in water

When we immerse ourselves in water, we are forced to recognize our existential estrangement from the physical universe.

Parashat Shmini:

It has split hooves but what lies beneath?

“Chazer Treif” is a Yiddish expression that describes something which is absolutely and completely non-kosher. The use of this description goes well beyond the kitchen...

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha: Shmini

Mitzvahs in Eretz Yisrael

Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars study connections between the weekly Torah portion and the holy land.

Parshat Shmini:

Simcha in the face of tragedy

Despite the tragedy in the parasha and a similar one in the haftarah, the joyous celebrations at the time continued. How could they find the inner strength?

Parashat Shmini:

Moses said to Aaron: Approach the altar and perform your service

Why did Aaron have to be convinced to approach the altar?

Parashat Shmini:

Moving with astonishing speed

Our sages wondered why the Exodus is mentioned specifically in response to avoiding insects.

Parashat Shmini:

With an abundance of love and faith

Just as there were crises on the eighth day when the Mishkan was erected, so too in our times, when we have been privileged to establish our national home, there are national and personal crises.

Torah Mitzion:

Holocaust Remembrance Day: And you shall be holy

Those who fought and those who went to their deaths with heads held high. All are holy.

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha: Tsav

The daily offering - where, what when?

Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars find connections between the week's Torah portion and Eretz Yisrael.

Parashat Vayikra:

Introduction to Redemption

Why is it appropriate that we begin reading this Book on the Shabbat of the month of redemption (whether Nissan or Adar)?

Torah Mitzion: Parshat Vayikra:

The Asham and the Chatat offerings

What is the difference between the two sin offerings and is there a psychological insight in that difference?

What is the parallel between heavenly and earthly Eretz Yisrael?

Connections between the Torah portion and the Holy Land, collected by young Religious Zionist Torah scholars.

Pekudei:

Moshe could not enter the tent of meeting - why?

Commentators weigh in on why the greatest of Prophets could not enter the Tabernacle after it was put up - see the end of the Book of Exodus.

Torah Mitzion:

Living in the shadow of Hashem

Moshe Rabeinu is the spiritual leader who relies on the direct light from Hashem but he realizes that sometimes we should use the shadows instead.

The Parsha and Current Events: Pekudei

The war over the soul of our nation

We have no option but to succeed in revealing the hidden sanctity in the inanimate stones of Hashem’s holy land and in the deep recesses of our Jewish souls.

Pekudei:

The things we leave unsaid

About the accounting we must make every so often to clear up unsettled issues.