Parshat HaShavua

THE FLOOD AND ERETZ YISRAEL What connection could there possibly be between this parashah and the Holy Land?  Seemingly, the flood affected the entire world, as the verse says, Everything that was on dry land died (7:22).  Furthermore, this is essentially a universal...

THE DESIRE OF KINGS This week’s parashah enumerates the blessings that Moshe Rabbeinu gave the Children of Israel before he died.  Many of these blessings contain clear references to the special qualities – both spiritual and physical – of Eretz Yisrael. The last...

November 22, 1963. We know where President Kennedy was traveling. He had landed at Love Field and was enjoying the now infamous slow motorcade through downtown Dallas. His destination was a luncheon business meeting at the Dallas Trade Mart before members of the...

Sefer Yonah - Yaffo’s Lessons for the Less than Perfect The city of Jaffa was a pivotal center of commerce from the earliest days of the modern reestablishment of the Jewish homeland. Agricultural schools were funded by Moses Montefiore in 1855 to train European Jews...

At our best, we have been intensely preparing for Yom Kippur for the past forty days, since Rosh Chodesh Elul.  Reviewing this past year, we may justifiably take pride in our religious and spiritual achievements, our moral courage of conscience and conviction, and our...

THE FINAL STAGE OF HISTORY Shirat Ha’azinu is basically a synopsis of Jewish history, starting with HaShem’s choice of Am Yisrael and culminating in the final redemption, for which we so sorely yearn.  It therefore behooves us – the generation living so close to the...

Sedra Ha'azinu, in the main Moshe Rabbenu's parting song to the people of Israel, and suffused with advice, admonition, prophecy, and blessing, concludes with an enigmatic phrase, "וְכִפֶּ֥ר אַדְמָת֖וֹ עַמּֽוֹ" (Devarim, 32:43). These three words are difficult to...

THE INGATHERING OF THE EXILES The Lord your God will return (ve’shav) your captivity and have mercy on you, and He will return (ve’shav) and gather you from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.  If your dispersed will be at the ends of the...

Following the six day war, there existed a widespread feeling in Israel that the nearly unthinkable victory was due to a miraculous intervention from God, and that it heralded the beginning of the ultimate geula.  One staunch opponent of this view was the Satmar...