The first of the furnishings of the Mishkan discussed in Parashat Teruma was the Aron, the sacred ark, in which the original Torah scroll was stored. G-d commanded that four rings be affixed “Al Arba Pa’amotav” –...
Parashat Mishpatim presents a long series of laws, involving mainly interpersonal relations. We find here, for example, the prohibition against speaking insensitively to a widow or orphan, the responsibility to compensate for damages which one caused, laws governing...
Parashat Yitro tells of Ma’amad Har Sinai – Hashem’s revelation to Beneh Yisrael at Mount Sinai, and Moshe’s ascent to the mountaintop after the revelation in order to receive the Torah. The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat (88b) tells...
Rabbi Haim Palachi (Turkey, 1788-1869), in his work Mo’ed Le’kol Hai (chapter 30), discusses a number of different laws and customs relevant to the month of Shevat. He begins by establishing that the theme of this month...
Surprisingly, the Torah in Parashat Vaera interrupts the story of the Exodus from Egypt with a genealogical record of the first three of the tribes of Israel – Reuben, Shimon and Levi. It lists the names of...
When G-d spoke to Moshe for the first time, and instructed him to return to Egypt and lead Beneh Yisrael to freedom, He mentioned that when the people will leave Egypt, “they will not leave empty-handed. Each...
Parashat Vayehi begins with Yaakob Abinu summoning Yosef and asking, “Please do not bury me in Egypt.” Yaakob had Yosef promise on oath that he would bring his remains back to the Land of Israel, rather than...
We read in Parashat Vayigash of Yaakob Avinu’s move to Egypt, where he was reunited with his beloved son, Yosef, whom he had not seen in twenty years, and whom he had thought was no longer alive. The...
We read in Parashat Vayeshev of the hatred that Yosef’s brothers felt toward him. The background to their hatred is the special love shown to Yosef by their father, Yaakob, who made him a special garment (“Ketonet Pasim”...
After vanquishing the Greeks from Yerushalayim, the Hashmonaim set out to cleanse the Bet Ha’mikdash, which had been defiled by the Greeks, and they dedicated the Bet Ha’mikdash anew. As the Gemara famously relates, all the oil had...