The most celebrated section of our parasha, Yitro, is that of the Asseret HaDibrot. It begins with the well-known words: “And Elokim spoke all (kol) these words saying.” The Mechilta … more

Though this week’s parsha begins with a story of Yitro, its chronological relationship with the rest of the Exodus narrative is debated by the commentaries. If we ignore this story for a … more

Assembling complicated gadgets is generally facilitated by the printed instructions that the factory provides. Occasionally, however, there are no instructions, either because of the … more

The parsha of Yitro records the revolutionary moment when G-d, Creator of Heaven and Earth, entered into a mutually binding agreement with a nation, the Children of Israel, an agreement we call a … more

BDE. We are sad to report that Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple was niftar on Jan. 19. He was the Senior Rabbi of The Great Synagogue of Sydney between 1972 and 2005 and one of Australia’s highest … more

The concluding section of our parasha, Beshalach, contains the account of our ancestors’ mortal combat with Amalek, the marauding desert tribe that sought to destroy us following our departure … more

May 1948. Tough times for the Jewish people, particularly for Jews struggling to claw out a place for themselves in a land they hoped to claim as their own. A few months after the United Nations … more

Jewish history is a series of encounters with evil rulers. Pharaoh, whom we have been reading about up until this week’s Torah portion of Beshalach, was just the first tyrant who persecuted us. … more

‘Then Moses sang’ This week’s Torah portion, Bershalach (Ex. 15:1), begins, “Az Yashir Moshe” (usually translated “Then Moses sang,” though literally … more

In September 2010, BBC, Reuters, and other news agencies reported on a sensational scientific discovery. Researchers at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado … more