There is a tale of Rosh Hashana in the book of Nechemiah. It was in the initial years of the Return from the exile of 70 years following the destruction of the first Temple. The crowd that … more

Psalms 35:9,18: And my soul shall exult in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation. … I will thank You in a large assembly; in a mighty people I will praise You. An extremely … more

One of the more disturbing images from the great rebuke in our parsha, KiTavo, “Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the sky and beasts of the land, and no one will be … more

In Devarim 22:13-21, we find two related circumstances that are both very disturbing from a contemporary vantage point. The first concerns a man who marries a woman and then claims she was not a … more

Two things dominated the news last week: Charlottesville, and the solar eclipse that crossed the United States, with the umbra spanning 16 states. Each of these stories delivered a different reminder … more

I am sure I am not alone in my disgust when seeing an article or video about an event on the other side of the world in which (most often a woman) is put to death through stoning, or some other … more

Here’s a good Torah trivia question: How do we know there was a river flowing down Mt. Sinai? Because it says so in the Torah (Devarim 9:21). In the context of describing the events … more

In the middle of Devarim Chapter 4, in this week’s parsha Vaeschanan, Moshe describes a future when the people abandon G-d in pursuit of idols: “G-d will spread you among the nations, and … more

As the history of the Israelites in the wilderness is reviewed in Devarim, an interesting trend is presented. The nations of Eisav, Moav and Ammon are treated as closer than brothers with … more

The truth is, it depends. The Torah, for example, says that if a person kills someone accidentally, the blood of the victim shall be avenged (Shmot 21:20). Chapter 19 in Devarim discusses the … more