by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jun 15, 2023 | Lifeline
This week’s reading includes a very difficult chapter in the story of the Exodus, that of the spies. These twelve spies, one from each of the twelve tribes, entered the Land of Cana’an to see what awaited the nation. With two exceptions, Yehoshua and...
by Guest Rabbi | Jun 8, 2023 | Lifeline
by Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld This week’s reading includes one of the strangest episodes in the entire Torah. The Jewish People have been out of Egypt for over a year, headed slowly but surely towards the Promised Land. Despite the harsh environment of the desert...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jun 1, 2023 | Lifeline
Our reading begins this week with the work and responsibilities of the family of Levi’s son Gershon, one of the three families of Levites. The family of Kehas was discussed in last week’s reading, and Merari follows Gershon. Each family had different...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | May 24, 2023 | Lifeline
Describing the arrival of the Children of Israel in the Sinai Desert, the Torah writes: “In the third month from the Exodus of the Children of Israel from the Land of Egypt, on that day they came to the Sinai Desert. And they traveled from Refidim, and they came...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | May 19, 2023 | Lifeline
This week’s Torah reading begins with a command to Moshe and Aharon to take a census of the Children of Israel, and the resulting count by tribe. Rabbi Moshe Nachmanides, a famed commentator from the 13th century, notes that the tribe of Levi is notably smaller...
by Mordechai Dixler | May 11, 2023 | Lifeline
As a child, I recall feeling frustrated while studying for tests. I would often fantasize about a pill that contained all the knowledge I needed for school. I would simply swallow it, and would then effortlessly possess all the information I needed, eliminating the...