Until modern times, travel was viewed as something best avoided. It was slow, uncomfortable, and often quite dangerous. Our rabbis even instituted a…
Shoftim: Nothing to Fear
The basic duty of every government is to provide security and protect its citizens from both internal criminal activity and external enemies. Parshat…
Eikev: A Long Journey
"According to the days that you spent exploring the land, forty days, a year for a day, you shall carry your sin and you will know My actions…
VaEtchanan: Learning to Read
Our Torah encompasses all aspects of life: it regulates our existence from the day we are born until the day we die, and from the moment we awake…
Devarim: Equality for All
With old age comes knowledge of life that can only be gained by experience. Thus, Jewish law insists that all elders, even non-observant or non-…
Mattot: Split in Half
The centrality of the land of Israel is a basic tenet of Jewish thought. Our Sages note that mitzvot performed outside the land of Israel are little…
Balak: Fearless Leadership
Bilaam, the heathen prophet, recognized that the strength of the Jewish people was in their high level of modesty. “How goodly are your tents,…
Chukat: Marching On
Judaism is a religion that celebrates life. "Better one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world than the entire life of the world to…
Korach: No Unity Without Diversity
It is in times of crisis that effective leadership is most important—and the years spent wandering in the desert represented the first major…
Shelach Lecha: Confirmation Bias
How can two people witness the exact same events and yet offer two distinct and different reports? This question is one that jumps out as we examine…
Naso: Counting Our Blessings
A Jew is commanded to recite one hundred blessings each and every day (Menachot 43b). We need constant reminders to ensure that we recognize the…
Shavuot: A Forced Torah?
Our attitude towards Torah is a most fickle one. On the one hand, the Jewish people demonstrated great faith in following Moshe into a barren…
Bamidbar: What's in a Name?
Sefer Bamidbar opens with names and numbers, a theme that continues throughout the book; hence its name, Chumash Pekudim, the book of counting.…
Bechukotai: Casual Relationships
Twice a year, before Shavuot and Rosh Hashana, we read the tochecha, the list of dire consequences that will, G-d forbid, befall the Jewish…
Behar: Working for G-d
The Torah was wary of the employer-employee relationship. Almost by definition, an employee is not much different than a slave; both are told what to…
Acharei-Mot, Or Is It Kedoshim?
For those who write divrei Torah, the next few months will be a bit challenging and will demonstrate our geographical frame of reference.…
Acharei-Mot: A Word Apart
“Speak to the people of Israel, and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your G-d: Do not follow the ways of Egypt where you once lived, nor of…
Last Day(s) of Pesach: Reach for the Top
As we all know too well, there is often a gap between the ideal and reality. In trying to implement our goals, we all too often fall prey to conflict…