Torah Portion
Parashat Shelach: Seeing giants, choosing hope
The 10 spies teach us what happens when fear rules the heart. The ma’apilim teach us of the danger of forcing reality to revive an old fantasy.
Parashat Shelach: Believe in yourselves
Parashat Beha’alotcha: The call of humility
Parashat Beha’alotcha: Yes to speaking up, no to hurting!
Parshat Naso: Rich people’s problems
When you live a life filled with meaning, spiritual fulfillment ... you receive a remarkable gift: a profound inner peace and emotional serenity that no material wealth can offer.
Parashat Bamidbar: In memory of Sarah Milgrim
Sara Milgrim: A life of quiet strength, compassion, and fierce faith. May her legacy inspire us to carry her light through the wilderness.
Parashat Bamidbar: ‘Each man by his banner’
The many hardships endured by the Israelites during their desert journey could have been greatly reduced had the nation learned to appreciate what they had.
Parashat Behar-Bechukotai: Live and let live
The only halachic ruling that was ever given is that “your life comes first” – and nothing beyond that.
Parashat Emor: ‘Guest mode’
'This world is not mine. It existed before me and will continue after me...I have entered, as a guest, into a perfect system run by God.'
Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: ‘Holiness,’ ‘abstinence,’ and what lies between
Don’t aim for lofty, angelic separation “like Mine” but live a human holiness – the kind of life for which I created the world.
Parashat Tazria-Metzora: Skin afflictions as a warning sign
Just as a bad word can destroy, a good word can build – and that, after all, is the purpose of creation: “The world will be built with kindness.”
Parashat Shemini: Food of truth
Our portion lists four animals that lack one of the two signs of purity. The midrash associates these four animals with the four exiles the Jewish people have experienced over the generations.
Parashat Vayikra: Sacrifices, essence, and meaning
Someone who sins is meant to bring something of himself – his heart and emotions – and to experience a sense of closeness to God and love for Him through the offering.
Parashat Pekudei: Don’t walk away
We know who we are. They cannot fathom it. Our tireless efforts to explain may fall on deaf ears – but we hear, and we know.