The Torah refers to Passover as the holiday of Matzot. The reason is to teach us that leaving Egypt was the first step to becoming a nation. We had to learn what it means to be free.

The laws concerning the priests' behavior can only be understood in the context that the priest were the spiritual leaders, so their actions mattered.

Today is Israel Independence Day. It is in the middle of the Omer, a period of mourning for our loss in the Bar Cochba revolt. This is not accident. It shows God's hand in our lives.

Today is the Memorial Day for the fallen in the Israel Defense Forces. Those who make the outrageous accusations against the IDF and defend Hamas should know that they are defending anti-Semites and racists. It is that simple.

The Torah points out that one of the duties of the priests in the Temple was the way they looked. We have to remember that they represent God to the people and the people to God.

The Torah admonishes judges not to pervert justice and to have accurate weights and measures. The biggest problem in the developing nations is corruption.

We are commanded to fear our parents but also to keep the Shabbat in the same verse. This is teach us that we have to obey our parents unless they order us to violate Jewish Law.

Israel Independence Day is on Iyar 5, this year it will be celebrated on May 14. It occurs during the Omar, a period of mourning over the loss of the Bar Kochba Revolt. It is no accident of history but God's hand in the world.

The Torah was the first religious book that tied religion with morality. This is because God stresses that He is a moral God and wants us to be a moral people.

Today is the memorial day for the Jews murdered in Europe during the Holocaust. It is also to remember the bravery that those facing death showed. The defeat of our enemies is not only that we survive but we survived as Jews.