Building the Tabernacle
Rabbi Shamshon Rephael Hirsch explains that building a Jewish society with justice and humaneness is a prerequisite, before we can build something as holy as the Tabernacle. It is the foundation, without which the gifts to the Tabernacle are no Mitzvah at all.
Mission of the Mundane
This week's reading, Mishpatim, judgments, is aptly named. Yes, the Hebrew name of a parsha, a reading, is simply its first uncommon word, but there are no coincidences, right? Mishpatim is filled with exactly what the name implies: judgments, interpersonal laws. We...
Read the Writing on the Wall
In this week's reading, G-d tells Moshe and Aharon to show Pharoah the miraculous signs that prove Moshe is speaking on G-d's Command, and Pharoah must indeed let the Jews go free to worship. G-d predicts that Pharoah will test them in this way: "when Pharaoh speaks...
Egyptian Amnesia
As we concluded Sefer Bereishis, the Book of Genesis, last week, the nascent Jewish People found themselves in very good circumstances. Yosef was second only to Pharoah himself, having saved the entire country from famine. There was no reason to expect what actually...
The Misunderstood Maccabees and Miketz Miracles
There is a lot of misinformation about the Chanukah holiday. People teach that the Greeks took over Israel, the Jews fought back, the Jews won the battle, and then there was the miracle of the oil -- enough oil to explain the Menorah, Latkes, and Sufganiyot (Israeli...
War & Peace… Together
Our reading begins with Yaakov returning to the land of Cana'an, re-encountering his brother Esav after several decades of separation. This was, however, no ordinary family reunion. After Yaakov received his father's blessing intended for Esav, Esav decided to kill...
