This week’s parsha , Yisro, begins by telling us that Yisro heard what G-d had done for Israel in taking them out of Egypt:
Yisro, father-in-law of Moshe, took Zipporah, wife of Moshe, …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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2/12/25
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After Moshe followed the instructions that made the waters of Marah drinkable, we are told, “There he taught them ‘chok u’mishpat’ and there he tested them.” The simple …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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2/5/25
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When one reads the opening of Parshat Bo, it is hard to ignore the question of who has the bigger ego — Pharaoh or G-d?
Over the course of the previous seven plagues, Pharaoh has actually …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/29/25
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One of the most difficult questions we face when looking at the narrative of the plagues in this week’s parsha, Vaera, in understanding verse 3 in chapter 7. In explaining how the plagues will …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/22/25
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When the Israelites leave Egypt, there is much discussion as to how they received the wealth they took with them from Egypt. Was it borrowed, taken — or received as a gift or payment for the …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/15/25
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By the time Yaakov dies at age 147, in parashat Vayechi , his sons range in age from 62 (Reuven) to 56 (Yosef, Zevulun, and possibly Asher), to around 48 (Binyamin).
As we know how old Yosef is …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/9/25
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W hen we read the story of Yosef and his brothers carefully, a number of things jump out at us that mirror the Torah’s narrative from the depiction of creation.
Beginning with …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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12/18/24
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This is adapted from a column published in 2008.
I can’t get the Holtzbergs out of my head. Not just because their images are all over the news and on every Jewish web site or because …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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12/11/24
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In Parshat Ki Seitzei we are told about a man who has two wives, one who is beloved ( ahuva ) and one who is detested ( s’nuah ) (Devarim 21:15). Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes that the term …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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12/4/24
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Our parsha, Toldot, shares three stories. The first is the background to the birth of Eisav and Yaakov and the sale of the bechora (birthright); the second is in the chapter dedicated to the life of …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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11/27/24
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