Every year, we read Parshas Nitzavim on the Shabbos before Rosh Hashana, without exception. 

The depth of the connection between this Parsha and this YomTov is explored with the help of an insight of the Lubavitcher Rebbe into the meaning of the word "Nitzavim" - often translated as "standing", but actually much deeper.

How can you have Simcha when life is awful?

How does the necessity to have Simcha fit with the reality and occasional value of sadness?

The difference between Korach and his allies Dasan and Aviram...

Exploring the real-life implications of the idea that Korach and Dasan-and-Aviram were neighbors. 

Parshas Naso, the longest single parsha of the whole Torah, has two mitzvos that seem to have nothing to do with one another: The Mitzva of Sotah, a woman accused of adulterous behavior, and the rules of a Nazir, a unique individual who has taken a vow to abstain from wine and other things.  What do these two people have to do with one another? The Talmud offers a clue. This podcast tries to understand that clue, and come away with some real takeaways for communities struggling to succeed. 

Why celebrate the day we stood at Har Sinai? Most of the things we heard were already part of the Seven Noahide Laws! We didn't hear most of the 613 till later! And why celebrate standing at the mountain and God's giving us the Torah as two events, as the song Dayeinu expresses it. I explore these questions in this podcast.    

Parshas Bamidbar has been one of the more difficult Parshios to grasp. It's not that its mitzvos are not practiced nowadays - it's that there don't seem to be mitzvos at all. There are a lot of numbers, repeated, and names, repeated, that don't seem to be related to any mitzvos or morals at all. In this podcast, I explore the parsha, and find some meaning.