This week’s Torah portion is entitled, V’zot HaB’racha, “And This Is the Blessing.” It contains words spoken by Moses as a blessing over the nation of Israel, a song of farewell, with the Promised Land in sight, before his death. In chapter 33 Moses describes a picture of God’s splendor and majesty, coming down from […]

This week, our parasha is Ha’Azinu, which translates to “Give Ear” and covers Deuteronomy 32. Ha’Azinu is the penultimate parasha and contains the final teaching and warning of Moses for our people. This teaching takes the form of a song, written in double columns in the Torah. The song prophecies our people’s future disobedience and […]

This week’s parasha is entitled Vayelech, which means, “And He Went.”  It covers Deuteronomy, Chapter 31:1 – 31:30.  As the parasha opens, we find out that this day will be Moses’ last day on earth.  As Moses mentions in verse 2:  I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able […]

The parasha for this week is entitled Nitzavim, a word meaning “those taking a stand”. The root is different from the common Hebrew verb for ‘standing’ (omayd). The Torah reading begins with our people standing formally before Adonai, with Moses as their intermediary, in order to confirm the Covenant. D’varim, the Book of Deuteronomy is, […]

This week’s Parasha is entitled Kee Tavo, meaning, When You Come In. It covers Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:9. It must have been a relief for Israel to hear that their 40-year journey through the wilderness was finally coming to an end.  They were about to cross over into the Promised Land, given to them by […]

Parasha Kee Taytzay means (“When you go out”). It contains more commandments than any other single Torah portion – over seventy in total. These laws touch nearly every aspect of Israel’s life: warfare, family, finances, marriage, justice, holiness, and daily compassion. As Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, Moses reminded them that obedience was […]

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.” This begins Parasha Re’eh, translated “See.” Our parasha covers Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17 and continues with Moses instructing our people in the specific commandments of Adonai. These commandments include the kosher laws, tithes, the Sabbatical year, the biblically mandated feasts, and the command to avoid […]

This week’s parasha is titled, Eikev, which means “consequence,” (Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25).  The definition of “consequence” is the result, or effect, of an action or a condition.  I don’t think I have ever used a subtitle for a parasha passage before, but today, I have subtitled this passage, “Things I wish someone had taught […]

The Torah portion for this Shabbat is called Va’etchanan, meaning “and I pleaded”. It covers Deuteronomy 3:23 through 7:11. As the parasha opens, Moses pleads 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. Pisgah and […]

This week’s parasha is titled D’varim, which means Words. It covers Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22. The book of Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book of the Torah. Moses begins D’varim by giving Israel the first of three major discourses. He rehearses the words of the Law and recounts their wilderness journey. In this week’s parasha, we […]