by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Oct 11, 1987 | Noach
While reading this week’s parsha recently, I was struck by something that I had not noticed before. Rashi says that it took 120 years for Noah to build the ark, and asks the question: Why did G-d make Noah go to all this trouble? He gives the answer: so that...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Aug 6, 1987 | Devarim
In today’s parsha — and for most of the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) — Moses gives the Israelites a long speech, on the East Bank of the Jordan, prior to his death and their entry into the Holy Land, and after forty years’ wandering in the...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Aug 6, 1987 | Balak
Balak, the king of Moab, wanted to battle the Children of Israel. But instead of using the conventional method of battle, he decided to seek the assistance of the well-known Midianite sorcerer, Bilaam. Bilaam had a reputation for being able to curse or bless anyone....
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Jul 1, 1987 | Bamidbar
This week’s parsha begins: “And the L-rd spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the tent of meeting …” (Num. 1:1). We may ask: why does it say “in the desert”? We know that the tent of meeting was in the desert! An answer is...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Jul 1, 1987 | Behaalotcha
In this week’s parsha, there is a great deal of complaining. The first time, “And the people were murmuring evil in the ears of the L-rd, and the L-rd heard it, and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the L-rd burnt among them, and devoured the edge of...
