Parshat Shavua

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.

Burying Moshe’s trumpets & crafting our own

Why the trumpets, which represent our ingathering, our points of reflection in times of joy and challenge, can’t be reused.

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

God created His world for it to be used by us

Yearning for holiness should not come at the expense of participation in this world and in community life, with all that such implies.

Torah Mitzion:

Fulfilling one’s mission in life

In the army, there are soldiers who are assigned to places where they do not want to serve. Sometimes these soldiers are disgruntled, and when students in a particular yeshiva asked the head of the yeshiva what they should do about the unwanted assignment, he quoted them the words of Maimonides regarding the Levites.

Eretz Yisrael Yomi:

The essence of G-d's Name

Religious Zionist Torah scholars find connections between the week's Torah reading and the Land of Israel: Where G-d's Name was pronounced.

Monasticism in Judaism

The Torah describes for us quite clearly and vividly the necessity for some manifestation of monasticism, be it permanent or temporary, in Jewish life and social order.

The desert nourished by the waters of Torah

No matter how bleak and barren the desert landscape in which we currently find ourselves, we should always be cognizant of the ability of Torah to refresh and renew us.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Bamidbar: She’s family

In Jewish law, a maidservant isn’t a lowly slave.

The wonderful rewards for toiling in Torah

"What is the meaning of:’if you follow My statutes’? It means that you toil in the study of Torah..".

Le’David Barchi Nafshi:

Not for any reward

The doctrine of reward and punishment at the opening of the parsha arouses our wonder. It is worthwhile to clarify the meaning of this important religious axiom.

Behukotai: Rabbi Akiva's Parable

Israel's first Chief Rabbi died in 1935. His words here are absolutely prophetic.

Talking Parsha - Bechukotai: Why so harsh??

What is the significance of the number seven in a parsha about rebuke? And what does the phrase 'seven on your sins' truly mean?

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

Through what merit is the Jewish people saved?

D’var Torah for Parshat Bechukotai.

Thought-provoking ideas from the weekly parsha - Behar

Chinuch explains that if one is allowed to defend their physical property to the fullest extent of the law, for sure when facing verbal abuse and threats to one’s emotional and spiritual health one can respond in kind.

Eretz Yisrael in the Parasha: Open miracles

Young religious Zionist Torah scholars connect the week's parasha to Eretz Yisrael.

The Parsha and Current Events: The writing on the wall

If the Prop;het Daniel were here, who would he single out as today's Belshazar? Perhaps all of them...

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Parshat Behar: Come home

Why did Yericho’s walls crumble to the ground?

Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:

Prayers related to Eretz Yisrael

Young religious Zionist Torah scholars find connections between Eretz Yisrael and the parsha.

The Parsha and Current Events: Time

Predicting the future is more precarious than walking on thin ice in June.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

From where do we know that ten men constitute a minyan?

D’var Torah for Parshat Emor

Talking Parsha - Emor: No equality in the Mikdash??

Does physical condition matter in spiritual service? Shouldn't the focus for priests serving in the Temple be solely on one's spiritual connection??

“Le’David Barchi Nafshi”:

Kedoshim: It depends on you

The Torah lights the path and provides tools to guide man through his life. “You shall be holy because I the Lord, your God, am holy” is essentially the conscience that the Torah supplies to man.

Swimming against the tide

Judaism's defensive measures against moral transgressions are mocked and scorned by the progressives of the current world. Look where that got them.

Kedoshim: Be holy towards your fellow man

Keeping Mitzvot between man-and-fellow man means to look both at our fellow man and at ourselves correctly, in ways which are ‘opposite’.

Office of the UK Chief Rabbi

Kedoshim:"It doesn’t make sense"

So often, we feel that the only predictable element of what’s happening in the world is its unpredictability.

Kedoshim: Preparing for Redemption

The prophetic message of the Return to Zion in the Haftorah we read could have been tailor-made for this Shabbat.

The Parsha and Current Events:

Aftershocks

Torah commentators suggest, each according to his world outlook, how one can achieve kedusha - holiness. But there is a common denominator.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Parashat Kedoshim: How can you love someone like yourself?

The Torah doesn’t demand the impossible.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Acharei Mot: The Ox and the Goat

Constructive and destructive power can both be used for positive purposes.

“After the death of the two sons of Aaron"

An explanation that helps us understand the depths of the Torah’s sensitivity to the human psyche and condition. We are still in the throes of every tragedy that befalls the Jewish People, all the more so today.

Eretz Yisrael Yomi:

Sins that cause exile from the Holy Land

Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars explain connections between the weekly parsha reading and Eretz Yisrael.

The Torah's morality against the flames of child sacrifice

While the practice of Molech is no longer en vogue in today’s world, the metaphoric pillars of fire that youngsters pass would through in worship of this barbaric deity still burn strong in the halls of 'prestigious' universities.

Talking Parsha - Achrei Mot: We can’t eat meat??

Why regulate meat consumption when it's already permitted for Noah and his descendants and will be permitted when entering the Land of Israel?

From the office of the UK Chief Rabbi:

‘After death we say holy things’

The Rambam tells us that the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem is the mitzvah of ‘Kol beit Yisrael’,

Acharei Mot: What does "living" by the commandments really mean?

People display their religiosity in diverse ways, but perhaps the words "live by them" reveal how God wants us to build an observant life.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Put on your weekday clothes with care

Torah truth must permeate a person’s mundane life.

Acharei Mot: True rebuke is hard to come by

There are two ways to understand this mitzva and both are not easy to perform.

The one to whom the house belongs

A collection of commentaries on tsaraat of a house. The Alsheich Hakadosh says: This affliction should be considered by us, as a gift from Hashem. Why?

Finding comfort from Miriam's loss, through Shabbat's holiness

It appears that the ability of the Jews to take the pagan representation of the Egyptian society in full view, and prepare it for sacrifice 4 days later, may have been a greater miracle than anything that had occurred up until that moment.

Talking Parsha - Metzorah & Pesach: What are Nega’im??

What is the significance of the emphasis on curing the tzara'at instead of the person? And how does it connect to the plague of the firstborn, and the seder night itself?

Tazria

Echoes of prophecy still inspire the Jewish nation

For while we have fought for and earned the Land of Israel, and the practice of Jewish life has returned to Zion, we cannot say that our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel are truly free.

Parshat Tazria: The happiest month?

From the month of Nisan, we are taught that it is not just during times of sorrow that we should empathise with others, it is also when they are happy.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Tzaraas isn’t leprosy

The laws of tzaraas are incomprehensible if we adopt the general translation.

Parshat Tazria: The supernatural affliction

Are speakers of lashon ha’ra not found amongst the nations? Why then don’t we find that they are afflicted by tzaraat?

Tazria: A directive toward a life of holiness

God demands we live a life of good deeds towards others and this upholds the world. Therefore, many commandments in the Torah are commandments of interpersonal nature.

Eretz Yisrael in the parasha: Three camps of holiness

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

Rav Kook Torah

Shmini: Mourning for Nadav and Avihu

Israel' first Chief Rabbi and iconic leader of Religious Zionism: To understand Moses’ unusual instructions for mourning his nephews, we must examine the Talmudic account of the passing of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi.

The depth of discipline

Aharon's sin with the Golden Calf was not in its creation but in forcing G-d to judge the Jews as willful sinners.

Talking Parsha - Shemini: Why can’t they mourn??

Why are Aharon and his sons not allowed to mourn the deaths of Nadav and Avihu? Why is it different than the customary practices of kohanim who must mourn their seven close relatives? And how is this relevant to what our nation has faced for the past six months?

Shmini: What are the two middle words of the Torah?

In pre-computer times, the scribes knew how many words and how many letters there were in the entire Torah.