Some commentators regard this Sidra as the most important one in the Torah. It contains the story of the Exodus which is the greatest event in the history of the Jewish people and has become a central tenet of our faith. The Sidra begins with an account of the last three plagues. Its middle section […]
The Sidra of Mikketz describes Joseph’s meteoric and miraculous rise to power, after having been imprisoned for 12 years. When the Butler was released two years before him, Joseph had hoped that he would help him regain his freedom. On the day that the Butler left prison, Joseph specifically asked him to remember him to […]
In this Sidra the Torah relates the events that took place in Jacob’s life on his way from MACHANAYIM to SHECHEM. Machanayim, which is a last word in the Sidra Vayetze, means ‘two camps’. Jacob gave this name because he saw two camps of angels accompanying him as he was arriving back in the land […]
In the first part of this week’s Sidra, the Torah relates that our father Jacob left his home in Beer Sheva and arrived at the place which he thought was safe and appropriate to settle down and to go to sleep. Some commentators have remarked that it is most interesting that he went to sleep, […]
Our Sidra is called Lech Lecha, which is a striking name. LECH means GO. But what does Lecha mean in this context? According to Rashi it implies that God told Abram to go for his own benefit. Nachmanides disagrees. He argues that this is simply a Hebrew expression. The pronoun ‘Lecha’ is often attached to […]
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 […]
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 […]