COMFORT ME! I have always had the sense that the Nation of Israel emits a communal sigh of relief as it exits the gloomy atmosphere of the Three Weeks of Mourning and its dreaded climax, the fast of the Ninth of Av. This feeling of relief...

THE MASTERCLASS Devarim, the last of the five books of the Torah, accounts for only five weeks in the long history of the Jewish people. And yet those five weeks were critical for the future of Israel, both in their homeland and in the diaspora. Devarim...

BOUNDARIES A little boy had just attended his first geography lesson and was both excited and puzzled. He was fascinated by the map of the world with its array of colours, lines and figures. But he was also confused by something and his teacher, noting his...

DO YOU EXPECT ME TO TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY? The festivals are times of great joy in the Jewish calendar. Each has its own personality as unique as the mussaf (additional) offerings that were brought into the Temple on each festive day. A description of these offerings...

PLEASE DON’T HURT US “Hashem opened the mouth of the she-donkey and it said to Bilaam, “What have I done to you that you struck me these three times?” (Bamidbar 22:28) “The angel of Hashem said to him, “For what reason did you strike your she-donkey...

THE CAPITAL CITY AND THE ACCOUNT “For Cheshbon was the city of Sichon, king of the Emorites; he fought against the king of Moab, and took all his land from his possession, until Arnon. Therefore, the allegorists will say: Come to Cheshbon. The city of Sichon...

FALSE ACCUSATIONS “Moshe was very incensed, and said to the Lord: Do not turn to their offering. Not one donkey did I take from them nor did I wrong one of them.” (Bamidbar 16:15) The rebellion of Korach against Moshe and Aharon and his challenge to Moshe’s...

THE HUNGRY BEAR “Behold, another [figure appeared]; a second beast, resembling a bear, and it was positioned on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; so they said to it: Arise! Devour much flesh!” (Daniel 7:5) One of the most terrifying...

REMEMBER AND DO NOT FORGET “Remember what Hashem, your God, did to Miriam on the way when you were leaving Egypt.” (Devarim 24:9) In the verse above, the Torah is referring to an incident in our parsha, Bamidbar chapter 12. The basic facts as they appear in...

YOU ARE HEREBY EXPELLED A short section in this week’s parsha seems, at first glance, to contain a directive that has very little relevance to the modern period. God tells Moses to command the Children of Israel (Bamidbar 5:2-3): “That they shall expel from the camp...