TRUTH AND LIES “Who is God like you? Bearing iniquity and overlooking transgression for the remnant of His inheritance. He does not maintain His wrath forever, because He desires kindness. He will again have mercy upon us; He will suppress our iniquities and You will cast...

PHILISTINES AND PALESTINIANS “There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was during the days of Avraham. Yitzchak went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.” (Bereishit 26:1) Gerar was the capital city of the Philistines. In parshat Noach, in the section...

NO LAND FOR SALE “Avraham arose from before his dead, and he spoke to the children of Chet, saying: I am a foreigner and a resident alien with you. Give me a burial portion with you, and I will bury my dead from before me. The...

SHABBAT AND THE LAND The theme of this year’s Shabbos Project is “Keeping it together for Israel.” This was not the original branding for the tenth annual event but after the horrific terror attack on Simchat Torah, 7 October, Chief Rabbi Goldstein decided to dedicate the...

THE LAMB AMONG THE WOLVES “Please, gracious and compassionate King, remember and call to mind the Covenant between the Pieces [with Avraham] and let the binding of his only son [Yitzchak] appear before You for Israel’s sake. Our Father, our King, be gracious to us and...

RELEASE MY CHAINS “Noah built an altar to the Lord, and he took from every pure animal and from every pure bird, and sacrificed burnt offerings on the altar.” (Bereishit 8:20) What was the purpose of the offerings that Noah brought on his altar after leaving the...

“GONE IS THE JOY OF OUR HEARTS, OUR DANCING HAS TURNED INTO MOURNING.” (EICHA 5:15) When the prophet Jeremiah uttered these words, he could have been referring to Shabbat 22 Tishrei 5784, corresponding to the seventh of October 2023. That was the day on which Israeli...

KEEP IT SIMPLE “He (Moshe) said: The Lord came from Sinai, and shone from Se’ir for them. He appeared from Mount Paran, and He came with some of the holy myriads. From His right [He brought] a fiery law to them.” (Devarim 33:2) In the opening verses...

THE TIME OF OUR REJOICING “You shall take for you on the first day the fruit of a pleasant tree, branches of date palms, a bough of a leafy tree and willows of the brook. You shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.” (Vayikrah...

“Yom Kippur does not atone for sins between man and his fellow until the [perpetrator] appeases [the victim].” (Yoma 85b) The process of returning to God involves two steps: teshuva, repentance and kappara, atonement. The first is performed by man and the second, by God. Teshuva...