The plague is over, the story of Pinchas and Zimri Ahas reached its conclusion, and it is time for the Israelites to move on. G-d instructs Moshe to count the people, and in 26:4 he and Elazar … more

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson had finally had enough. For the better part of 25 years, Americans had been paying ransom and tribute to the Arab nations of the Barbary Coast (Morocco, Algeria, … more

    The mourning for Miriam is wholly inadequate, and it opened the door for the unfortunate events of Mei Merivah, which concluded with a need for different leadership to bring the … more

Not long ago, I heard a powerful vignette from Rabbi Marvin Hier, the former director of the Simon Wiesenthal center. When Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter, celebrated … more

The mitzvah of the parah adumah (Red Heifer) is the focal point of the beginning of our parasha: “This is the statute of the Torah that the L-rd commanded, saying: Speak to the children of … more

In college I took some classes in film theory and design. I can only imagine how artistic filmmakers would set up the scene of Bilaam riding on his donkey in the moments when the donkey veers off the … more

This is an extraordinary moment in Jewish history, for good and not-so-good reasons. For the first time in almost 4,000 years we have simultaneously sovereignty and independence in the land and state … more

Nineteen hundred and forty two years ago, this week (on the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz), the end finally began. After two and a half years of siege, the Roman Legions broke through the … more

We only hear what we want to hear. We only see what we want to see.” This statement about human nature, pessimistic though it may be, rings true to most of us. It helps explain all sorts of … more

The most celebrated pasuk of our parasha is “mah tovu:” “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!” (Bamidbar 24:5) As early as the beginning of the … more