Parashat Pinhas is, in the vast majority of years, read during the period of the Three Weeks, when we begin observing certain restrictions in solemn commemoration of the destruction of the Bet Ha’mikdash. Rav Abraham Yehoshua Heschel of...
The Torah in Parashat Balak tells the famous story of Bilam’s failed attempts to place a curse on Beneh Yisrael. Bilam, a non-Jewish prophet, was summoned by Balak, the king of Moab, who felt threatened by Beneh...
The Torah in Parashat Hukat present the law of Para Aduma – the “red heifer” whose ashes were used to prepare the purifying waters, through which people and objects would be purified after becoming Tameh (impure). In...
We read in Parashat Korah of the group assembled by Korah to challenge Moshe’s authority. They accused Moshe of nepotism, that he unfairly granted the exclusive post of Kohen Gadol to his brother, Aharon. Moshe responded by inviting...
The Torah in Parashat Shelah tells the story of the Mekoshesh Esim – a man who publicly desecrated Shabbat while Beneh Yisrael were in the wilderness. The people who found him committing the act of Shabbat desecration brought him...
The Torah in Parashat Behaalotecha tells of Beneh Yisrael’s departure from Mount Sinai, where they had been encamped for nearly a year: “Va’yis’u Me’Har Hashem” – “They journeyed from the Mountain of G-d” (10:33). The Talmud Yerushalmi, in...
The Torah in Parashat Naso (5:5-8) discusses the case of a person who stole and then took an oath falsely denying his crime. After he confesses his sin and repents, he must pay the victim the principal...
The Mishna in Pirkeh Abot (3:14) teaches, “Man is precious, in that he was created in the image [of G-d]...
The Torah in Parashat Bamidbar briefly recounts the death of Nadab and Abihu, Aharon’s two older sons: “Nadab and Abihu died before G-d...
Parashat Behar discusses the fascinating Misva of Shemita, which requires abstaining from all agricultural work in Eretz Yisrael every seventh year. Additionally, all produce that grows in the seventh year may not be harvested and stored by the...