Moshe’s goodbye speech that is the book of Devarim contains a number of references to the fact that he will not accompany the people into the Promised Land. He talks about how he requested, knelt, pleaded before G-d to be given a chance to enter the land — if only for a short time — and how each request was summarily rejected. more

There are many ways to analyze Yosef’s strategy with his brothers--what was his intent, his plan, and his goal in having them go through all the “tzurres” he gave them over their younger brother and their father. The superlatives run from “cruel” to “brilliant” and from “vindictive” to “well thought out.” more

When I was in ninth grade, our teacher, Rabbi Cohen, trained our class to respond to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” with the answer, “an eved Hashem” … more

There are seven instances in the Torah when a tally of army-aged males is given to us. Twice they are rounded to “600,000 foot soldiers” (Shmot 12:37 and Bamidbar 11:21). more

Everyone knows that the Bris Milah, the Covenant of Circumcision, dates back to the covenant forged between G-d and Abraham, covering chapter 17 of Bereshit. … more

When describing the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that accompanied the Israelites out of Egypt, the Torah tells us that the cloud did not leave during the day and the fire did not leave at … more

The listing of the travels of the Israelites in the wilderness finishes, in Parshas Masei, with these verses: “They left Almon Divlathaymah and camped in the Avarim mountains in front of Nebo. … more

When the sun, moon and stars bow By Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of Dec. 19, 2008 / 22 Kislev 5769 Bundles of grain and stars bow down to Yosef. What does it all mean? In 37:7 Yosef … more

The primary topic of our double parsha focuses on the affliction of tzaraat, its diagnosis and prognosis. The attention is primarily on the kohen, who is given detailed instructions for how to detect what is or is not tzaraat. He is also given tremendous autonomy in deciding whether the mark he is examining is tzaraat. Interestingly, there is no mashgiach monitoring to see that what the kohen declares is “correct.” He makes the call. more

Book collectors often have many books on their shelves that never move from their place. But sometimes it is the thin volume you never look at that contains gems of insight and wisdom. In recent years I have found this to be true of a book I purchased when I was in yeshiva. The author is Yeshayahu Moleyoff (not sure how that is spelled in English), and it is one volume on Bereshit (I don’t even know if he has more) called “Meotzarot Bereshit.” more