O ne of the most revealing moments in the beginning of Parshat Bo comes when Pharaoh’s officials say to him, in advance of the pending plague of locusts, “How long will this [man] … more

Parshat Chayei Sara by Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of November 13/ 26 Cheshvan 5770 Take a careful look at Bereishit 24:67. “And Yitzchak brought Rivka to his mother’s tent. He took … more

Shortly before Thanksgiving, a video entitled “Yeshiva Guy Says Over a Vort” was posted on YouTube and made its rounds through many of our emails. In it, two animated bears discuss a Torah thought related to the traditional interpretation that the forefathers kept the commandments of the Torah before Sinaitic revelation. The darker bear begins the conversation saying, “Can I say over a vort that I heard by my rebbe’s house last shabbos?” more

In its description of the Jubilee year, the Torah tell us in 25:9 that the shofar is to be sounded throughout the land on Yom Kippur of Yovel.  Noting how we don’t blow shofar when Shabbos … more

We finally made it! The week our Torah reading catches up with that of Israel! We have been misaligned with our brothers and sisters ever since they observed Shabbos and read Parshat Shemini on … more

After a cliffhanger at the end of last week’s Torah portion, our parsha, Vayigash, opens with arguably the most impassioned plea in all of the Bible — Yehuda pouring out his heart to … more

Parshat Noach by Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of October 8, 2010/ 30 Tishrei 5771 From Adam until Noach, only two individuals do not reach the lofty age of 900 or its vicinity (Mahallel lived … more

The concept of “going up in holiness” is one that gains prominence around Chanukah, as we light candles, adding one each night. But the opinion of Beit Shammai is that we start with … more

While Chapter 11 in the book of Bamidbar bears little resemblance to the famous reorganization process of the Bankruptcy Code, it does have a series of setbacks that seem to put the people in a negative light. Disobedience, complaining, people getting punished by fire, or their bodies suffer the effects of too much quail. more

A simple reading of the Gemara in Arakhin 16a informs us that tzaraat, a spiritual disease with a physical manifestation that is definitely not “leprosy,” could come upon a person for one of seven sins: lashon hora (slander and gossip), murder, swearing in vain, immorality, haughtiness, theft, and stinginess. Raise your hand if you might get tzaraat if such a disease were extant today. (We can all put our hands down now.) more