THE KING AND THE SCROLL “It shall be upon his sitting on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a scroll, from that which is before the priests, the Levites. It shall be with him, and he...

A BAND OF BROTHERS   Judaism has a complex and detailed ritual of mourning that serves to acclimatise the surviving relatives to their loss, as well as offering them support and consolation. The Torah, however, prohibits certain mourning rituals that it views as destructive and counter-productive. One...

SACRED OBJECTS   “At that time the Lord said to me: Carve for yourself two tablets of stone like the first and ascend to Me to the mountain; and make for yourself a wooden ark. I will inscribe on the tablets the statements that were on the...

SUPPLICATION   “I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying: My Lord God, You began to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, that who is a god in the heavens or on the earth, who can perform like Your actions, and like Your...

THE PROPHET’S SPEECH   “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 Hatzerot and Di Zahav.” (Devarim 1:1)   The fifth and final book of the Torah...

SPEAK NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL “From the seventeenth of Tammuz onwards we recite three haphtaroth of retribution [followed by] seven of comfort and two of repentance. The three of retribution are “The words of Jeremiah” (Jeremiah 1:1-2:3); “Listen to the word of...

PEACE AND PERFECTION “The Lord spoke to Moshe, saying:  Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon the Cohen, has caused My wrath to be withdrawn from the children of Israel, in that he was zealous on My behalf among them; that I did not destroy the...

OPPOSITES ATTRACT   This Shabbat marks the realignment of the diaspora communities with the Land of Israel. Here is some background: The festival of Shavuot was celebrated this year, 5783, on Friday 26 and Shabbat 27 May. This was the case outside of Israel. But in the...

WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN AGENDA “Korach, son of Yitzhar, son of Kehat, son of Levi, and Datan and Aviram, son of Eliav, and On, son of Pelet, sons of Reuven, took [themselves to one side]. They arose before Moshe and with them two hundred and...

THE GOOD SON AND THE BAD SON “They ascended in the South, and he came until Hebron. And Achiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, children of the giant were there. Hebron was built seven years before Tzo’an of Egypt.” (Bamidbar 13:22) The route of the spies, dispatched by Moshe,...