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The Eighth Commandment, “You Shall Not Steal” may seem obvious to most people but to some, stealing is a way of life. Stealing, however, is not just taking something that doesn’t belong to you, it can have a much wider application. We can steal someone’s self-esteem by continuously insulting them. We can steal someone’s self-respect […]
2 Tammuz 5781 Korach, Datan and Abiram, the principal characters of Parashat Korach, were all first born sons (bechor) entitled to the double inheritance. Our sages say that Korach was quite a wealthy man in Egypt, in fact, in Israel there’s an expression… “as rich as Korach”, meaning he was filthy rich. People of power […]
After the departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the construction of the Mishkan, and the census taken of the men to go to war, the children of Israel were now preparing to enter the Promised Land. It says that God first asked Moses to […]
Today I’d like to look at the Seventh Commandment “You shall not commit adultery.” What is adultery? The dictionary says that it’s voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than their legal spouse. Marriage is a tradition that has changed drastically since Biblical days when men had all the power and women […]
Is anything impossible for God? People tend to take the saying, “nothing is impossible for God” very lightly, to the point of it being a cliché. In this case, let’s examine two possibilities for the same issue. Bamidbar (Numbers) 11 begins with a complaint, “And it happened that the people began to complain about their […]
Parashat Naso נָשֹׂא continues with the counting the children of Levi and the Creator appointing specific functions to the children of Levi as well as to each of the twelve tribes. Israel was called “The Chosen People” because they were chosen by the Creator to fulfil a role, regardless of those who say, “I never asked to […]
Shavuot is one of the lesser known of the seven Biblical Festivals even though it is one of the “Shalosh Regalim” – Three Pilgrimage Festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkoth). It was at these Chaggim – special Holidays that the Israelites would travel up to Jerusalem to celebrate and bring their extra offerings to the Temple, […]
So, we find the Israelites in the wilderness “Bamidbar”, on the first day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year after they left Egypt. The first thing that Moses was told to do was to take a census, to count every head or prince of every tribe. Later readings, however, warn us about the […]
https://youtu.be/YTSJ5RNT5Iw Leviticus 25: 1-27: 34 26 Iyar 5781 The parashah Behar (on the mountain) refers to Mount Sinai, where the Creator gave the Torah to the people of Israel. Our sages explain that the Creator chose this mountain because it is smaller than the others, alluding to humility. They say that to receive the Torah, […]
Today I‘d like to talk about Commandment number 6 – “You shall not kill”. Why did God have to tell us…you shall not kill? Didn’t He form the first Israeli army when we left Egypt over 4000 years ago. There’s a difference between killing and murdering. I believe that it means that we shall not commit premeditated murder, […]