THE 24/7 FAITH “You shall make for yourself twisted threads on the four corners of your garment, with which you cover yourself.” (Devarim 22:12) We have already encountered the precept referred to in this verse in another book of the Torah. There (Bamidbar 15:37-41) the children of...

ONLY HASHEM CAN COMFORT US “It is I, I who am your Comforter; who are you, that you fear mortal man and a person who will be rendered to grass?” (Haphtarah of Shoftim, Isaiah 51:12) The haphtarah for this Shabbat, the fourth since the fast of Tisha...

A SPECIAL PEOPLE “You are children to the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves and you shall not place a bald spot between your eyes for the dead. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and you the Lord chose...

THE TEST OF WEALTH Living a Jewish life can be an expensive and challenging endeavour. Kosher food comes at a premium.   Property prices of homes close to a shul in a Jewish neighbourhood are often very high. The costs of private Jewish day schools, yeshivot and...

BURNING YOUR BRIDGES “When you are in distress and all these matters befall you, by the end of days, you will return to the Lord your God, and you will heed His voice. As the Lord your God is a merciful God, He will neither forsake...

WORDS DON’T COME EASY “These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the Arava, opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel, and Lavan, and Chatzerot and Di Zahav.” (Devarim 1:1) This week we begin to study the...

THE COST OF GOING IT ALONE Those familiar with shul fundraising will recognise the Yiddish term shnoddering. This is not to be confused with that other, somewhat similar word, shnorrering, which means ‘to beg’. Shnoderring is the process whereby the officials who stand at the bimah...

THE BROKEN LETTER "Therefore say: Behold, I give him My covenant of peace" (Bamidbar 25:12). After Pinchas’ brave actions at the end of parashat Balak – he killed the chief of the tribe of Shimon and his Midianite lover while they were engaged in a public promiscuous...

THE NATIONS AND THEIR WARS “Therefore, it is said in the book of the Wars of the Lord: Vahev [the name of a place that the Israelites conquered] by storm, and the tributaries of the Arnon.” (Bamidbar 21:14) The narrative of the book of Bamidbar, from Behaalotcha...

  WHEN CONFLICT BREEDS ABSURDITY “And they assembled against Moshe and against Aharon and said to them: ‘You take too much upon yourselves! For the entire congregation, all of them, are holy, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves over the assembly...