The Limits of Human Comprehension
This week's reading begins with the Commandment to prepare a red heifer for a special purification ritual. The calf was slaughtered and burned and its ashes mixed with water. Any person who came into contact with a dead person had to undergo a seven-day purification...
The Eye of the Beholder
When Moshe sent the spies into the Land of Israel, he did not anticipate two wildly disparate reports regarding what they would find. An argument breaks out between the spies upon their return: only two of them, Kalev and Yehoshua (Joshua), say that Israel should...
Entering Fifty Gates
When G-d begins to speak to the Jews at Mount Sinai, He says, "I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt." Commentaries ask, why is the Exodus from Egypt important in this context? If G-d is trying to establish His Identity and explain why Israel...
Suicide Pact
Either the Author of the Torah knew what He was doing, or He wanted to starve the Jews. The Torah Commands the Jews to observe a "Sabbatical of the Earth," a full year in which farming is prohibited. No planting means no reaping, no crops to sell. Now, you might think...
More than a Bonfire
In Judaism, our holidays are never mere celebrations or commemorations — they are opportunities for spiritual growth. In the case of Lag B'Omer, there are two key lessons for all of us, found in the two stories behind this rabbinic holiday. Lag B'Omer gets its name...
Impossible to Know… But Known
In this week’s reading, the Torah clearly lays out for us the animals, fish and poultry permitted under Jewish Law. In the course of doing so, the Torah makes a statement that — were it made by a human being — would have been beyond foolhardy.
