Olive Seedlings - שתילי זיתים

The story of the sin of the golden calf is one of the most difficult passages in the Torah. On one hand, it was clearly a grave sin. On the...

In the opening verse of  Shoshanas Yakov , we say, שושנת יעקב צהלה ושמחה בראותם יחד תכלת מרדכי – “The rose of Jacob (i.e. the Jewish people...

Many commentators note that despite the fact that he is present throughout the portion, the name of Moses is not mentioned in Parshas Tetza...

With Parshas Teruma , the Torah begins to discuss the the construction of the  Mishkan  (Tabernacle). This is the main topic of the remaind...

At the end of Parshas Mishpatim , the Torah returns to the narrative of the Sinai Revelation. (The commentaries debate whether the events d...

What does it mean to be a Jew? When I describe myself as a Jew, what does that really mean? It is readily apparent that none of the no...

This is a video of a presentation I made a few years ago to middle school students at an Orthodox Jewish day school discussing how to think ...

In the Song of the Sea, Moses and the Jewish people sang ( Exodus  15:2), "זה א-לי ואנוהו" - "This is my God and I shall glo...

For most people who are aware of the case, the recent conviction of the child rapist, Nechemya Weberman, has come as a welcome sign that, e...

Parshas Bo  tells us of the final three of the ten plagues that God inflicted upon the Egyptians before the exodus of the Jewish people fro...