From Routine to Radiance: When Small Acts Become Sacred This week’s parsha introduces the laws of inheritance—because of five remarkable women: the daughters of Tzelafchad. Here’s the claim they presented to Moshe: “Our father died in the desert. He was not among Korach’s faction, who protested against G-d, but died because of his own sin. […]

Great Days, not Dark Days Choni HaMaagal, a Jewish sage who lived two thousand years ago, once passed a man planting a carob tree and asked how long it would take for the tree to bear fruit. When the man responded that it would take 70 years, Choni asked, “are you certain you will live another seventy years?” […]

What quality must an authentic Jewish leader possess?When the people saw that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: “Come on! Make us a god that will go before us, because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt […]

These days, we all find ourselves living in a new and different world. It was just this past Purim that we sat together in shul, next to one another, listening to the reading of the Megilla and sat in close physical proximity to our friends, and the phrase “social distancing” was not part of our vocabulary. We felt secure […]

When Moses asked G-d to appoint a successor, the Midrash says that G-d answered Before you command Me concerning My children, command My children concerning Me. Moses proceeded to command the Jewish people concerning the laws of the daily and holiday sacrifices. What quality must a Jewish leader possess? When the Jewish people feared that Moses would not […]

In the last month, we have seen the tearing down of statues of many famous historical figures. Much can be said about how we remember people with problematic pasts or what modern ethics we can impose upon historical figures. We can also use this as an opportunity to discuss the role of statues and monuments […]

This week we learn about the laws of inheritance; it’s taught here because of five incredible women, who were the daughters of Tzelafchad. Here’s the claim they presented to Moses.Our father died in the desert. He was not among the members of Korach’s faction, who protested against G-d, but he died because of his own […]

One of the topics in this week’s Parsha is the law concerning inheritance. It is taught because of an incident initiated by five remarkable women, all of whom were daughters of a man named Tzelafchad. This is what they asked Moses: And the daughters of Tzelafchad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the […]

Who will go out before them …who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the G-d will not be like sheep without a shepherd. (27:17) What prerequisites did Moses request his successor have; what were his criteria for leadership? A leader “who will go out before them and who […]

The main character in the beginning of this week’ Torah portion is Pinchas, who meted out punishment of a licentious act. Concerning Pinchas, G-d said “Pinchas avenged My vengeance…”(ibid 25:11). According to the commentary of Rashi he did what G-d would have had to do. As a result, Pinchas was rewarded by having his stature […]