Parshas Va’eschanan
Rabbi Berel Wein The Torah, as we all well know, is multilayered. The rabbis have taught us that there are seventy facets to every piece of the written Torah. We are also aware that no written word can adequately convey to us all of the nuances and possible meanings that lie embedded in the written […]
Parshas Devarim
Rabbi Berel Wein This week’s parsha, Devarim, is a continuation of last week’s parsha of Maasei. This is because it also forms a narrative review of events that occurred to the Jewish people during their forty years of life in the desert of Sinai. Just as last week’s parsha reviewed for us the stations where […]
Singing in the Rain
Rabbi Zvi Teichman In just a few days, absent the coming of Moshiach, we will be mourning over the destruction of the Temples once again, weeping over the many tragedies we continue to endure in this lengthy exile. From mid-day on Tisha b’Av we slowly introduce hopeful words and songs of comfort that reaches its […]
Parshas Matos-Maasei
Rabbi Berel Wein The narrative of the experiences of the people of Israel in the desert of Sinai concludes with the parshiyot of this week. All of the occurrences, successes and failures that marked this forty-year trek in a wasteland wilderness are alluded to in the count of Israel in last week’s parsha and in […]
Parshas Pinchas
Rabbi Berel Wein The Torah records for us the genealogy of Pinchas, the true and justified zealot of Jewish history. There are many reasons advanced as to why the Torah felt compelled to tell us of the names of his father and grandfather. Many commentators saw in this an explanation to justify Pinchas’ behavior, while […]
Parshas Chukas
Rabbi Berel Wein The series of disasters that befell the Jewish people in the desert of Sinai, as recorded for us in the previous parshiot of the book of Bamidbar, reaches its climax in this week’s parsha. Heaven decrees that neither Moshe nor Aharon or Miriam – the entire leadership team of the Jewish people […]
Dust Yourself Off
Rabbi Zvi Teichman Bilaam tells Balak the Jews are impervious to his curses, for “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov, or who can number the seed of Israel”. Rashi explains the first half of this verse as referring to the ‘countless’ mitzvos that are fulfilled with עפר, ‘dust’: You shall not plow with an […]
Parshas Korach
Rabbi Berel Wein The litany of disappointments and failures of the generation of Jews that left Egyptian bondage continues in this week’s parsha except this parsha relates to us not so much in describing a direct confrontation with G-d and His express wishes, so to speak, but rather tells of a challenge to Moshe and […]
We All Need Each Other
Rabbi Zvi Teichman We can only imagine the tension in the air that gripped the nation upon the return of the spies and hearing their frightening and discouraging report. Here they were, poised to finally reap the rewards for their longed for hopes for happiness, success, and security, after so many years of suffering through […]
Parshas Shlach
Rabbi Berel Wein The attitude of Jews towards the Land of Israel has always been a litmus type of test of Jewish commitment and even faith throughout the ages. As we see in this week’s parsha, from the beginning of our national existence, there have always been Jews – leading Jews, well-intentioned Jews, even outwardly […]