It seems that every week another famous personality is outed as a predator or abuser, and publicly fired and condemned. Most of these cases involve a man using his position of power to get away with … more

When we look at Chapter 38 of Bereishit, there are many questions. Timeline questions: Did Yehuda marry before or after the sale of Yosef? How old was Tamar? How old were Yehuda’s sons? How … more

Before the sale of Yosef, Yosef is on a mission. Walking near Shechem, looking lost, he encounters a “man” (the rabbis identify him as an angel) who says two words to him, Mah … more

Open a chumash with Rashi on this parsha, Vayakhel, and the first thing you notice is … there is no Rashi. You can count on your hand the number of comments Rashi provides on chapters … more

By Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of Jan. 2, 2009 / 6 Teves 5769 A Jew who reads the Torah as a historical account of the beginnings of our people may easily swell with pride and “yiddishe … more

After nearly 50 mitzvot are described and demonstrated in Parshat Mishpatim, mostly related to damages and other person-to-person circumstances, the laws enter the realm of the holidays as we are … more

Commentaries have a field day trying to pinpoint what was Moshe’s sin that sealed his fate not to bring the people to the Promised Land. Even the language of the Torah is inconclusive, because when the episode of Mei Merivah (Bamidbar Chapter 20 – the “Rock incident”) took place, Moshe and Aharon are informed they will not “bring” the people to the land. It is only later that they are told they, too, will not “enter” the land (Bamidbar 20:24, Devarim 4:21 (referring to Bamidbar 14:30?), Devarim 32:52). more

t was the great sage Hillel who said (Avot 2:5), “In a place where there are no men, try to be a man.” The sentiment of the phrase doesn’t lend itself to be reformulated to gender-neutral terminology, so I apologize in advance to those who find it offensive. Nonetheless, I think an understated message from this phrase can help us understand the first real episode in the life of Moshe, when he controls his own destiny. more

The biggest news story of the week was about a clerk in Kentucky with a fundamentalist understanding of the Bible. Among many reactions on social media, there was a clip from the “West … more

With the abundance of storms that have everybody talking about the weather, one wonders how much the global warming camp can convince their opponents that "we" control the weather. Record snowfalls across the country seem to indicate to me that G-d, and not Hummers or Styrofoam cups, is still in charge. more