The meaning of the name of today’s Sidra is JUDGES. The Torah commands us to appoint judges and officers to keep social order. The first verse reads: “You shall appoint judges and officers throughout your gates, i.e. cities, which the Lord your God is giving you, in the territory of every one of your tribes, […]
The meaning of the Hebrew name of today’s Sidra is: See. In the first sentence Moses tells the Israelites that he is giving to them the possibility to choose between the blessing and the curse. The syntax of this verse is striking. It begins by addressing one single person and continues by addressing the entire […]
The literal meaning of the Hebrew name of today’s Sidra is FOOTSTEPS. Here it is used in a borrowed sense to mean result, consequence or reward. Therefore, the first sentence means: “It will be, as a reward, for listening to all these commandments… that, the Lord will fulfil the terms of the covenant to love […]
The meaning of the name of today’s Sidra is I prayed. The first passage contains Moses reports that, after the conquest of the territories on the Eastern side of the Jordan, he made the final very personal plea to the Almighty to allow him to enter the land. He thought that, since he had been given […]
This Shabbat has a special name: Shabbat Chazon. It always precedes the Fast of the Ninth of Av and the name is based on the first word of the Haftarah which means THE VISION. It contains Isaiah’s prophecy in which he warned Israel about the forthcoming catastrophe that was waiting to happen to the Kingdom […]