The Torah reading for this week is entitled Lech L’cha, which means You Go. It is taken from the book of Genesis chapter 12:1 through chapter 17:27. This chapter begins the account of Abraham’s walk of faith. The flood had destroyed a corrupt civilization, but another sinful society soon took its place. God called one […]

This week’s Torah portion is entitled Noach, covering Genesis 6:9 through 11:32. It tells us about the catastrophic world-wide Flood which destroyed all life on Earth except for Noah, his family, and ancestral pairs of all animals. But the Flood isn’t the main theme. The theme is what it means to be the remnant. Noah, […]

This week’s Parasha covers Deuteronomy chapters 33 and 34. It’s called V’zot HaB’racha – And This Is The Blessing. This is the last Parasha in the annual cycle. Next week we begin a new book, In The Beginning, with Genesis 1. In these two chapters we will read of the blessings that Moses bestowed upon […]

Moses and Israel had sung a song after crossing the Red Sea. It celebrated their victory over the Egyptians due to the power of God, but this new song points out Israel’s unfaithfulness and the Lord disciplining His own people. This song would indict the Israeli people for turning away from Adonai due to breaking […]

This week is a double portion entitled Nitzavim-Vayelech which mean “Standing” and “And he went” respectively. In Nitzavim, Moses reviews the covenant between Israel and Adonai, warning once again about the evils of idol worship, and describing the destruction in the Land that will follow because of disobedience to Adonai. It also contains a section […]

Last week’s parasha was entitled Kee Taytasay (“When you go out”). This week it’s Kee Tavo (“When you come in”), covering Deuteronomy 26:1 through 29:8. Coming and going – sounds like the history of the Jewish people, doesn’t it? And it all began with our father Abraham. Kee Tavo opens on a hopeful, joyful note, […]

This week our parasha is Ki Teitzei, which means “When You Go Out”, and covers Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19. Parasha Ki Teizei covers many different topics and contains 74 different commandments. This morning I would like to focus on a few of the commandments of this parasha. Woven through the many different topics of parasha Ki Teitzei […]

This week’s Torah portion is entitled, Shoftim, which means “Judges.”  It covers Deuteronomy, chapters 16:18 through 21:9.  This passage discusses the structure of authority in ancient Israel.  That structure was composed of 4 key elements:  Judge, King, Priest and Prophet. The first of the 4 that is mentioned is the judge, towards the end of […]

The parasha for this Shabbat is entitled R’eh, which means “See!” It covers Deuteronomy 11:26 through 16:17. Moses makes it clear that the real issue of drawing closer to God has to do with the heart of the individual. If Israel would serve Adonai in love and faithfulness, God would send the early and latter […]

The parasha for this Shabbat is entitled Eikev, which means “Consequence”. The Book of Deuteronomy is organized as a series of three discourses by Moses with a concluding address or his final “words” given to the Nation of Israel as they prepared to enter the land that Adonai promised on oath, first to Abraham, then […]