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Can a willing heart be developed? In the last verse of Parashat Mishpatim, we read that Moshe ascended the mountain of God, Mt. Sinai, where he would remain for 40 days and 40 nights. The next thing we read, whether it happened chronologically or not, God asked Moshe to tell the Israelites to take gifts […]
“Bless Adonai, O His angels, mighty in strength, you who execute His word and listen to the voice of His commandment.” (Tehillim 103:20) To me, the central theme of Parashat Mishpatim is our responsibility toward our neighbor who is voluntarily or involuntarily affected by our actions. In this sense, Mishpatim is an explanation of how […]
Are You For or Against the Creator? This parashah Yitro has a lot of meat and meaning. Interestingly, this portion in which we received the Ten Commandments or Sayings is named after a Gentile priest These Ten Words are Israel’s Constitution as well as for the entire world. There is so much to learn from […]
Parashat Beshalach once again demonstrates that the stories in the Torah form a prototype of human behaviour that would be repeated throughout the centuries. Let’s look at just a few verses to see if we can find the thread that weaves its pattern from which we can learn. Exodus 13:17, “When Pharaoh let the people […]
The Birthing of Israel Let me share a modern-day mashal (parable) with you about the birth of a new nation. A surrogate mother has an embryo implanted within her which she will carry until the birth of the newborn baby. (As an aside, I dislike the word fetus because this is how people dehumanize the […]
Do You Hear GOD’s voice? But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage. Shemot 6:9 This week’s parashah, Vaera which means “And I appeared”, begins with a dialogue between the Eternal and Moshe, where God confirms who He is, and reveals a new […]
We have now finished reading Bereshit and are beginning the amazing story of the Exodus. Joseph had made his brothers swear that they would take his bones out of Egypt and bury him in Canaan like their father Jacob. Yet unlike Jacob, whose sons buried him in Machpelah just seventy days after his death, it […]
“Life’s Journey is more important than its Destination.” This parashah Vayechi ends the very special book of Bereshit in which we read about the creation of the world by our Bore Olam and our place within it. We travelled from Adam to Noah and the destruction of the world due to the perversity of mankind, […]
How do we grow to succeed? This question has been floating around in my head lately. At the end of the secular year 2024, many of my relatives and friends went to a church to hear messages about how to recap the secular year and face the new challenges in 2025. Although the Torah is […]
Say No to Assimilation Over the past 60 years, I have peeked into many religions and ideologies; I spent a little time in some while I delved more deeply into others…starting with – believe it or not – the modern-day religion of medicine, which states that “Doctors mustn’t be questioned or challenged”. This is true […]
