Parshas Shelach 1987

While the Israelites were in the desert, they found a man “mekoshesh” (“gathering”, or possibly “cutting” or “piling”) sticks on the Sabbath day. And they … brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole...

Be Like a Desert – Be Flexible

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...
The Right Way to Accept the Torah

The Right Way to Accept the Torah

The Torah, in describing the Giving of the Law, says: “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet G-d, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain” (Exod. 19:17). The actual Hebrew for the last phrase is: “Visyatzvu BESACHTIS hahar”,...

Sukkos and Elie Weisel

In the Gemora (Avoda Zara 3) there is an agada about an event which has not yet happened. One day, in the future, when it becomes clear how beneficial the mitzvos are for our welfare in this world and the next, the nations of the world will go and complain to G-d:...

Parshas Behar 1986

In this week’s parsha, we learn about the mitzvah (commandment) of the “shmita” year. “When ye come into the land which I give unto you, then shall ye keep a sabbath unto the L-rd. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt...