Category: Parashah

The portion of Pekudei is extraordinary. Nearly the entire parsha is devoted to presenting a balance sheet to us. In the last few parashiyot, we learnt how Hashem had instructed Moshe to take contributions from the people, then to build the Mishkan – the sanctuary in the wilderness – to …

How can I accept irrational commandments? This coming Shabbat will be Shabbat Parah, and we recall the time when Hashem gave us the mitzvah of the parah adumah, the red heifer. In an extraordinary fashion, the ashes of the heifer enabled people who were impure to become pure. But the …

There’s nothing quite like being there. This powerful message is conveyed to us in Parshat Ki Tisa. It is a well-known story: after forty days and nights, Moses, who had received the Ten Commandments from Hashem, is told by the Almighty, “Lech-red” (go down), “ki shichet ammecha” (your people have …

This powerful message emerges out of the very first word of Parshat Tetzaveh, and that word is “Ve’attah” – “and you”. Hashem was addressing Moshe. And, as is well-known, Tetzaveh is the only portion of the Torah outside of the book of Bereshit which doesn’t mention Moshe’s name. Every time …

This Shabbat, we are reading Parshat Terumah, but it is also Rosh Chodesh Adar. There is a teaching from the Talmud that relates to the beginning of this month. In Masechet Taanit, daf kaf tet, amud aleph, it famously says: “Mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simcha”—with the start of the month of …

Do you come to shul to see or to be seen? In Parshat Mishpatim, the Torah presents us with details relating to the Shalosh Regalim, the three pilgrim festivals, and the key term there is: “Yera’eh”—he shall be seen. That is: to be seen in Yerushalayim for these momentous occasions. However, …

Parshat Yitro famously gives us a commandment relating to how we should be good children to our parents. However, it also offers a hint as to how we can be good parents to our children. It is well known that in the Ten Commandments, presented to us in this Parsha, …

Miriam and Devorah will take centre stage this Shabbat. These two extraordinary role models for all people, for all time, will be featured in our reading for Parshat Beshalach. We will read about Miriam’s leadership, and we will read about Devorah in the Haftarah accompanying the Parasha. Parshat Beshalach, this …

Valerie and I have just returned from Poland, where we had the privilege of accompanying His Majesty King Charles on a visit to Auschwitz for the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp. As I stood on that ground, the place where the most horrific evil …