In Parshas Mattos, read this week, the tribes of Reuven and Gad ask, due to their large flocks and the fertile ground east of the Jordan river, if they could settle there rather than within the Land of Israel itself. They said that they would build "enclosures for our...

We learn this week that Miriam passes away after the Israelites come to Kadesh, and that they then have no water to drink [Num. 20:1-2]. Rashi explains that for the entire 40 years that they were in the desert, they had access to a well in the merit of Miriam. Once...

Analogies are a frequently used educational tool, because they are easily understood and internalized. Just say "toe is to foot as finger is to hand," and a young child now knows that the appendages attached to the foot are called toes. Mathematically, the expression...

The Torah tells us this week that "the man Moshe was more humble than any man" [Numbers 12:3]. When does the Torah tell us this? When his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, speak poorly of him. Moshe had separated from his wife due to his constant need to be in a...

In this week’s reading we learn about the inaugural offerings brought in the Tabernacle in the desert. Each of the tribes of Israel was given a day on which its leader would bring an offering. The tribes were told to come in a specific order, based upon the four flags...

No one quite expected the President of the United States to call upon Jews to observe Shabbos. But he did! In his proclamation in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, President Trump wrote: In special honor of 250 glorious years of American independence and on the...