Several years ago, one of the writers for Torah.org reached out to me in a hurry. He had made a mistake, and wanted to stop distribution of the email he had just sent. What was his mistake? He had identified the weekly reading as "Parshas Bila'am" — this was, of...

As happens every so often, an organization made an innocent mistake, and was condemned by those anxious to find fault. In this case, the organization made the unfortunate choice of quoting one of the most evil figures of modern history. It is recorded that Hitler said...

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 Kalev, they...

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...

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 responsibilities...

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 to...