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Is it too late to turn the tide? How many people are going through some challenging times in their lives, in all aspects – family problems, health issues from physical and emotional distress, financial troubles, and that is in this so-called free country which has not yet become a warzone, like so many others around […]
Proverbs 21:21 says, “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” Parashat Ekev lists a series of practical mitzvot (commandments) which, if fulfilled by the Israelites, would allow them to enjoy prosperity in the land they would inherit while banishing the Canaanites and establishing peace. Moses revisits the past years of the […]
Shema Israel…but who is listening today? We have reached the fifth book of the Torah, Devarim also known as Deuteronomy. It was written in a more personal way where Moshe Rabeinu reminds the people of all their experiences, whereas the Creator dictated the first four books. Here, we see Moshe as being more human, and […]
Parashat Devarim begins with “These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan”… it is an eleven-day journey from Mount Sinai …in the 40th year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses addressed the Israelites according to the words that YHVH had given him for […]
The Importance of Keeping Our Word. These two portions, Matot (Tribes) – Masei (Journeys) which ends the fourth book of the Torah Bamidbar (Numbers) deal with preparing this second generation after the exodus from Egypt to conquer the land. Many things are repeated because it takes time for us to learn and even then, we […]
Finding Peace in Chaos “And the earth was completely void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters.” Parashat Pinchas contains a series of themes. It relates that his act of zeal was for the Honor of Heaven. This caused the wrath […]
Can we conquer fear and anxiety on our own? Balak, the name of this week’s parashah, was king of the Moabites. God has such a sense of humor. Balak’s name means destroyer as opposed to Tzippor, his father’s name, which means “bird”, but this destroyer was like a little bird. He was terrified of the […]
How can we share someone’s pain without being destroyed by it? Today our parashah is Chukkat, a word from the Hebrew word Chok – חוק meaning statute or regulation. Our sages tell us that we need to accept it by faith since there is no clear understanding of the meaning. They say that even King […]
Is Envy destroying your life? “Let me not be included in your council, let my being not be counted in his assembly.” (Bereshit 49:6) This verse refers to the words that Yaakov prophesied on his deathbed, which according to the sages of Israel in Bamidbar Rabbah 18 refers to the advice of the spies who […]
“I discovered that Wisdom is superior to folly as light is superior to darkness; “The wise man has his eyes in his head, while the fool walks in darkness.” Koheleth 2:13-14 This week’s parashah, Shelach Lecha שְׁלַח-לְך (Send for you), expounds upon the twelve explorers of the land, their report, and its consequences, resulting in […]
