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.

 An illustrative image of a grasshopper.

Parashat Shelach: Believe in yourselves

 The Grapes of Canaan by James Tissot (circa 1900). Although the 12 spies brought back a cluster of grapes so large that it took two men to carry it, only two of the 12 brought back a good report of the land.

Parashat Beha’alotcha: The call of humility

 OUR FINITENESS can never completely comprehend the infinite

Parashat Beha’alotcha: Yes to speaking up, no to hurting!

 An illustrative image depicting gossip.

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.

 An illustrative image of businessmen jumping across a chasm for money.

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.

 Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.

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.

 EVERYONE IS rooted in his place

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.

 WHOSE LIFE comes first?

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.'

 Religious man holds bundle of wheat (Illustrative).

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.

 FIND HOLINESS at your Shabbat table

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.”

 An illustrative image of a megaphone.

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.

 Cattle cool off near Hispin.

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.

Over-indulging in worldly desires can take one down a negative road.

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.

 MOSES PROVIDED a meticulous accounting of every donation collected for the Mishkan.