The colour white is central to the celebration of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The normal-coloured curtain of the Ark, Parochet, is replaced with a white curtain. The normal-coloured mantles of the Sifrei Torah are changed and covered with white mantles and the Bimah is covered with a beautiful white cloth. In many Orthodox synagogues, […]
The entire Book of Deuteronomy contains Moses’ final speeches, which he delivered during the last 37 days of his life. He began his first speech on the first of Sh’vat and concluded his last one on the seventh of Adar, which was the day he died. Rashi tells us that the speech which begins at […]
The Sidra of Shoftim is devoted to the establishment of an Israelite state. It contains a large number of Mitzvot, 73 in total. Many of those Mitzvot are major laws regarding setting up the government of the country. The Sidra begins with the appointment of judges and officers who were charged with making sure […]
The Sidra of Re’eh opens with the contrasting sharp choices which the Almighty offered to Israel. He said that he was giving them the blessing and the curse. He commanded them to choose the blessing. The blessing was symbolically allocated to Mount Gerizim and the curse was allocated to Mount Eival. These mountains were situated […]
The name of this Sidra has attracted the attention of our commentators because it is open to a number of interpretations. The most straightforward, and literal meaning of the word EKEV is ‘the impression we make in the sand with our steps as we walk”. Therefore, this sentence means ‘as consequence of your obedience’. Consequently, […]
The Sidra which we read this morning is arguably the most important and beautiful portion of the year. It contains the 10 Commandments and the first paragraph of the Shema, as well as some other notable statements and commandments. It is part of Moses’ farewell speech to the Israelites. He explains to the Israelites that […]
Today we begin the last book of the Torah. The Rabbis, who fixed the Sedarot, planned the order of reading very carefully, so that this Sidra always falls before Tisha Be’av. This is most appropriate, since it contains the verse which begins with the word , Eichah. This is the opening word of the Scroll […]
Today we read the last two Sidrot in the Book of Numbers. These two Sidrot, which are called Mattot and Massei, are read together in all normal years. They are only read separately in leap years. Together they are one of the longest annual Torah readings. They are connected by their theme. Both of them […]
Biblical names have interesting meanings. Very often the name of a hero ties in with the content or intention of the story. But the name Pinchas is an exception. His name does not seem to have any meaning in any known Semitic languages, nor does there seem to be any connection between the name Pinchas […]
The Sidra of Balak, the king of Moab, contains the unique Biblical story about Bilam, (this is how the name is pronounced in Hebrew), who was hired by Balak to curse the Israelites when they came near to his country’s borders. Our ancient Rabbis regarded Bilam as a gentile Prophet and asserted, quite surprisingly, that […]