They are different, after all
Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky zt"l says something on this week's reading that could have been drawn from current events, though his twelfth yahrtzeit will be next month on the Jewish calendar. In this week's reading, Moshe and Aharon come before Pharoah, to demand the right...
Why Did Yehudah Fight?
This week's reading begins, "And Yehuda approached him," [44:18] confronting Pharoah's viceroy, his brother Yosef, on behalf of their brother Benyamin. Rashi says he now spoke harshly, with sharp words. My teacher, Rav Asher Rubenstein zt"l, pointed to one of the...
G-d Is Always With Us
Because of the way the Jewish calendar is built, and the Torah readings are laid out, our reading this week is almost always read on Chanukah—in 17 out of the 19-year cycle. We read this portion, about the redemption of Yosef from prison, during the holiday, and in...
Redemption Started from Kindness
In our reading this week, Yosef (Joseph) refuses the advances of his master's wife, and is thrown into jail. He was entirely innocent, and she had lied about what transpired. He would have been fully justified to wallow in his own sorrow, dealing with no one. Instead,...
The Two Sides of Esav
One of the advantages of writing and publishing Divrei Torah online is that it's very easy to go back and look at one's own previous work, whether to get inspiration or even to share again a Dvar Torah that today's audience may not have seen. This week, I found an...
Beyond Scrupulous
In this week’s parsha, Avraham went to Abimelech, King of Gerar, to complain about a well of water that Avraham's servants dug to provide water for his people and flocks, but which Abimelech’s servants had stolen. Instead of simply apologizing and taking...
Torah Contains Everything
Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer, known as the Vilna Gaon (the genius of Vilna), taught that the entire Torah is contained within its first book, Bereishis ("In the Beginning"), that Bereishis is contained in its first parsha (portion), this week’s reading, that the entire...
From Leader to Disciple
In this week's reading, Moshe announces to the people of Israel that he can no longer lead them. “He said to them, ‘I am 120 years old today; I can no longer come and go, and Hashem said to me, “you shall not cross the Jordan River”’” [31:2]. Lest they think they are...
Days of Awe
Several weeks ago, I was honored to be invited to provide a D’var Torah on the High Holy Days, which would be distributed by a rabbinic organization to their membership. I turned it down. Usually, I am not one to turn down such invitations, but to write about the...
The Power of a Bad Habit
In our Torah reading, the Jewish nation is told that they may have a king, but "only that he may not acquire a large number of horses for himself, and not return the nation to Egypt in order to add a horse" [17:16]. This is the first thing that we are told the king...
Truth Isn’t By Popular Vote
Our Torah reading this week enjoins us to maintain Torah practices, no matter what others believe or have done. This begins within ourselves, as the Torah directs us away from "every man doing whatever is right in his eyes" [12:8]. But we are told not to follow the...
Sweat the Small Stuff
This week’s reading, Eikev, begins with G-d’s promise of great blessings: “It will be, that because you listen to these judgments, and guard them, and do them, Hashem your G-d will guard for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your fathers” [7:12]. The...
