Parshat Eikev 5778
Parshat Eikev In this week’s portion we come to the only ברכה - blessing mandated by the Torah according to all opinions. This blessing is the ברכת המזון - Birkat Hamazon, the Grace after meals. It is derived from…
Sorry, but You are so Pavlovian!
Parshat Vaetchanan
Do you know anyone who fancies himself a connoisseur? Do they feel they are an aficionado, cognizant of the essential differences between designer garb and inferior clothing? Or perhaps they consider themselves true gourmands, people who know how to appreciate…
Parshat Vaetchanan 5778
Parshat Vaetchanan This week’s portion, ואתחנן - Vaetchanan, which means “and I implored,” seems to begin in the middle of nowhere. Following the description in the end of the previous portion of how the Jewish people decimated the two…
The Palace That Lies Empty
Parshat Devarim/Tisha B’Av 5778
The King, the kind, benevolent monarch, ruled well for years, but around him hung the gloom of childlessness. He would have no one upon whom to bequeath his mantle of leadership. Everything he built would be for naught. There would…
Parshat Shoftim 5777
Parshat Shoftim In this week’s portion, the Jewish Nation stands poised to enter the land of Israel. It is 2488 years since creation, forty years since leaving Egypt, and receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. They have completed the forty…