Today’s Sidra is named after the man who led a major rebellion against Moses and Aaron in the desert. Many commentators believe that this rebellion took place immediately after the catastrophic mission of the 12 spies. Korach and his “gang” thought that Moses’ leadership had been weakened. They, therefore, took this opportunity to challenge him […]
Today’s Sidra begins on a note of joy and happiness. It focuses on the light of the Menorah and tells us that Aaron was commanded to light its lamps so that six flames, three on each side, should be directed towards the central flame. According to another interpretation, he was instructed to ensure that all […]
The Sidra of Vayakhel begins with the statement that Moses assembled the whole nation together, which included the women and children. It was a rare assembly which was necessary after the grave crisis of the building of the golden calf and Moses’ smashing of the tablets. It was most encouraging that despite everything […]
The opening commandment in the Sidra of Ki Tissa instructs Moses to conduct the census which took place by means of a contribution of half a Shekel from each person over the age the 20. The age of 20 was the military age in ancient times. Therefore, it is to be assumed that Moses […]
The Sidra of T’rumah is devoted, in its entirety, to the building of the Tabernacle and the furniture that stood in it. It existed for 479 years. After travelling in the desert with the Israelites for almost 40 years, it continued to be the centre of worship until King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. […]
Only five Sidrot are named after a Biblical personality. Three of those personalities, No’ach, Yitro and Pinchas, were greatly admired. The other two, Korach and Balak, became famous for their evil conduct. It is possible that Yitro was given the honour of having a Sidra named after him because he was one of the greatest […]
The name of the Sidra means HE APPEARED. The first sentence of the Sidra tells us that God appeared to Abraham in a place called Elone Mamre. Elon is a name of a tree. Alon means a tree and today is has become a beautiful Modern Israeli name. Mamre was one of Abraham’s Amorite allies. […]
The name of the Sidra means GO. God addresses Avram, Abraham’s original name, for the first time, and instructs him as follows: “Go to the land which I will show you.” The Torah does not explain why God spoke to Avram. The call came out of the blue. Only in next week’s Sidra, we read […]
The name of this week’s Sidra means “At the beginning”. It comes from the Hebrew word Rosh, which means HEAD. The first chapter describes the creation of the world in seven days. It is worth noting that many commentators agree that the Torah is not meant to teach only history and that the account we […]
The Sidra of Vayechi begins in the Torah scroll in a unique way. All the others Sidrot begin on a new line, or on the same line, with the space of nine letters separating them from the previous Sidra. But this Sidra begins in the middle of the paragraph, without any break. It seems […]