This week’s Torah portion is entitled Kee Taytzay, which means, “when you go out,” and covers Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19. This passage deals with issues related to morality, marriage, divorce, following through on vows, and other issues. Chapter 21 deals with a woman captured in battle. If the soldier is pleased with this woman, she […] Source
Our parasha this morning is entitled Shoftim, which is translated “Judges.” This passage covers Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9. Our parasha opens in chapter 16:18 with a discussion of the role of judges and how they are to administer justice and this discussion is continued in the first half of chapter 17. Dispensing fair and impartial […] Source
Our parasha passage for today is entitled R’eh, meaning “See” and covers Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17. The title “see” comes from the first verse of the parasha, where Moses reminds the people, saying, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse…” And this is the key theme of the parasha. Blessings […] Source
The text of this parasha will be posted later. Source
This week our parasha is Va’etchanan, meaning “and I pleaded,” and covers Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11. This parasha contains many laws, the Shema, and the Ten Commandments. This morning I will focus on Moses’s plea and how it speaks to us today. In the previous parasha, Moses recapped the history of our people. At the end of […] Source
D’varim means “words” and is also the Hebrew name of the 5th and final book of the Torah. The title comes from the first verse in chapter 1: “These are the words…” Deuteronomy contains Moses’ written account (his words) of Israel’s journey through the wilderness after leaving Egypt. It also contains deeper explanations of the […] Source
The Torah readings for this week consist of two parasha. First, we have Mattot, meaning “tribes,” taken from Numbers 30:1–32:42. Secondly, we have Masei meaning “journeys,” which begins in Numbers 33:1 and continues through 36:13. Moses was instructed to speak to all the leaders of Israel and tell them the commands of Adonai concerning vows. If […] Source
The parasha for this Shabbat, entitled Pinchas, covers Numbers chapters 25-29, and is named after a man some might suggest took the law into his own hands. In the previous chapters, the King of Moab attempted to hire Balaam to curse Israel – something God was never going to allow, since He had already blessed […] Source
This week, we have a double parasha. Chukat, which means “statute,” Numbers, 19:1 – 22:1, and Balak, Numbers 22:2 – 25:9, the Moabite king who wants to destroy Israel. I’m just going to focus on some major points from each parasha. Chapter 19 explains the sacrifice of the red heifer. The red heifer was designated […] Source
This week’s parasha is titled Korach, named for the leader of one of the largest and most severe revolts against the leadership of Moses and Aaron during the wilderness journey. Our passage for this week covers Numbers, Chapter 16:1 – Chapter 18:32. While all those who served at the Tabernacle and later at the Temple […] Source
