Chayei Sarah:
The Parsha and Current Events: Four eulogies
On the 34th Yahrzeit (18th of Cheshvan) of my brother Ha’Rav Meir David Kahana z"l
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Parshat Shavua
News and updates about Parshat Shavua
Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:
The altar that stood from the beginning of time
Young religious Zionist Torah scholars find allusions to Eretz Yisrael in the weekly parsha.
Office of the UK Chief Rabbi
The Akeida was a major misunderstanding
So what was this all about?
Le’David Barchi Nafshi: Vayera
That which is most dear to us may be taken and dedicated to God.
Abraham's great test shows that dedication to God must not simply be a result of a Divine decree, but that we must rise to the level of feeling love and great happiness in fulfilling His Word.
Vayera:
Pointers on hospitality
Guests do more for the host than the host does for them. The guests get a meal and a place to sleep while the host derives immense satisfaction and pleasure from providing for them - and merits a mitzva besides.
The Parsha and Current Events:
Virtue and deficiency
A significant portion of the Dutch population remains passive and even hostile towards Jews, maintaining virulent anti-Semitic sentiments. That explains what has occurred on a deeper level.
Le’David Barchi Nafshi: Lech Lecha
The value of our own efforts
Abraham shows un that one must act to save himself, but also pray for G-d's salvation in case it does not work out.
One man heard G-d's call - and the rest is history
Spending a lifetime polishing my coping mechanisms, how do I hear the call?
Lech Lecha:
The Parsha and Current Events: What Trump could mean for Israel
Beware becoming too intertwined with America.
Le’David Barchi Nafshi:
Breishit: Life lessons in the story of Cain and Abel
Man left alone in his nature is pulled downwards. The Torah pushes us to hope for the future, to make progress, and to find new pathways to be productive at every moment in time.
Torah Mitzion:
Bereshit - The Tree of Life
What can we learn from the Torah's description of the "Tree of Life" situated in "the midst of the garden", in the centre of the garden?
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.
