Bereishit 12: 1-4 (Robert Alter trans.) And the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your land and your birthplace and your father’s house to the land I will show […]
Parshat Noach
While this parsha includes the destruction of the world, the formation of human languages, and the initiation of Abraham’s journey, our Mussar lesson will look at a small episode of […]
Parshat Bereshit
Henach Leibowitz, Majesty of Man
Many people think that learning mussar and studying middos is merely “icing the cake,” of secondary importance to the rest of the Torah. On the […]
The Spirituality of Song — Ha’azinu
Moses completes his teachings with a song. Singing and chanting are an integral part of religious ritual and education. Why? Perhaps music touches a different part of our brain, different […]
Not In Heaven — Nitzavim
We read:
back to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your being. For this command which I charge you today is not too wondrous for […]
Devarim
The last book of the Torah covers only a month in time, the end of Moses’ life, taking the form of a rhetorically soaring ethical will by Moses to his […]
Parsha Korach
CLICK HERE for the commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
In this week’s parsha, Moses faces the most serious revolt against his authority. Led by a Levite, Korach, this revolt is […]
Parshat Shelach Lecha
This parshah is the pivotal section of the Book of Numbers. Moses sends leaders from the tribes to reconnoiter the Promised Land: ten of them return with tales of a […]
Parshat Beh’alotecha
In this parsha, Moses asks God to take his life. He sees himself as a failure, and his burden too great. Rabbi personally recounts that this is the text he […]