Parasha
What is the connection between Zionism and planting trees in Israel?
Trees have repeatedly been destroyed by war, fires, and other causes, but we have always planted again as an expression of Jewish resilience and rebuilding.
Parashat Shoftim: Wholehearted – and well
Parashat Re'eh: The tyranny of ‘one’ truth
Parashat Eikev: With respect for the past
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.
The king of Spain was outraged: “Cut out his tongue”
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.
Parashat Pekudei: The beauty of transparency
Nothing in the Torah is superfluous. From every word – and even from each letter – our sages derived halachic rulings or ethical teachings.
'Cardozo on the Parashah': The magic of the Torah’s most ambiguous book - review
Snippets from Rabbi Nathan Cardozo’s commentary on the ‘Book of Leviticus’
Parashat Vayakhel: Giving from the heart
look at the beauty of the Temple, built in harmony and generosity, and let this be the foundation of your own home – built on love and overflowing kindness.
Parashat Tetzaveh: Yes, you can!
A person can build, act, create, contribute, and make the world a better place. Just as easily, however, the same person can wither, stagnate, and waste his or her life in idleness.
The rebbes met – Then one asked a mysterious question
