This week our parasha is Shoftim, which mean “Judges”, and covers Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9. Parasha Shoftim teaches us the importance of justice, and how if we claim to love the Lord, we need to love justice as well. Our parasha picks up towards the end of Deuteronomy 16 with the need to have judges in every […]

Today’s Parasha is titled “Re eh”, which means “to see”. This Torah portion, from Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17, describes a blessing and a curse from God.  In chapter 11:26 – 28, God says, “see, I am setting before you a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord and […]

The name of this week’s parasha is Eikev, which means “consequence”, and covers Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25.  In this parasha, the Israelis are promised blessings for obedience to Adonai’s commandments, and penalties if they disobey His commandments; they are also reminded to remember all that He did for them.  If the Israelis obeyed Adonai’s commandments, they would […]

The Torah portion for this Shabbat is called Va’etchanan, meaning “and I pleaded”. It covers Deuteronomy chapters 3:23 through 7:11. As the parasha opens, Moses was pleading with Adonai to reconsider allowing him to cross over into the Land of Promise. God’s answer was a firm “No” but He did allow Moses to ascend Mt. […]

This week our parasha is Devarim, which means words and covers Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22. Parasha Devarim is the first Torah portion of Deuteronomy and is the name for this book in Hebrew. Parasha Devarim teaches us the importance of learning from our past and breaking the cycles of sin that repeat constantly in our lives. The […]

This week, we have a double Torah portion with Mattot, meaning “tribes,” Numbers 30:2 – 32:42, and Masei, meaning “journeys of,” Numbers 33:1 – 36:13. Chapter 30 contains Adonai’s instructions regarding the making of vows to the Lord or the making a binding obligation; in other words a promise that cannot be broken. Both men […]

This week’s parasha is entitled Pinchas meaning (Phinehas). Pinchas is also translated as “dark skin”. Our Torah portion covers Numbers 25:10- 30:1 Adonai gives Moses instructions about Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, grandson of Aaron, great nephew of Moses and also the nephew of Nadab and Abihu, whom Adonai killed in the sanctuary […]

This week’s parasha is entitled Balak.  The passage is named for the king of the Midianites, Balak, and the name Balak translates as, “Destroyer,” which is a fitting name for a king who wants to destroy Israel.  Our passage today covers Numbers, Chapter 22:2 through Numbers, Chapter 25:9. The passage begins with the Moabites and […]

The name of this week’s parasha is Chukat, which means “decree of”, and covers Numbers 19:1-22:1.  This parasha covers the ordinance of the red heifer; the Israelis’ journey to the Promised Land; Moses and Aaron’s exclusion from leading the Israelis into the Promised Land; and the Israelis’ conquests.  A red heifer must be unblemished and […]

The Torah portion for this Shabbat spans Numbers chapters 16-18 and is called Korach, named after the leader of an infamous rebellion against Moses and Aaron – one which ended catastrophically. This is now the third consecutive challenge to Moses’ leadership. The first was from his own siblings, Aaron and Miriam (on the pretext of […]