Vayeira – Unreal
Regarding various Jewish laws (e.g. see Bava Kamma 49a), the Gemara sees in Avraham’s words to his entourage on the way to the Akeida, “Stay here with the donkey” (Beraishis 22:5), an indication (based...
Lech Lecha – Of Banners and Bloodshed
It’s considered uncouth, or worse, these days to assign any sort of “national character” to peoples of different ethnic or geographical backgrounds. And we are well advised to not assume anything about any individual...
Noach – Get Your Own Dirt
It could have been a launch pad for a vehicle to reach the moon. Or a panopticon to monitor people over a large distance. Those are two of the suggested theories for why the...
Beraishis – The The
Is there any reason why the Torah uses the definite article (“the”) in its first pasuk? Couldn’t it have said “In the beginning, Elokim created heavens and earth” – minus the “the”s? While we...
V’zos Habracha – The Unfolding of History
A subtle and fascinating hint to how history unfolded since the revelation at Har Sinai is pointed out by Rav Hutner – in two words used at the start of the parshah.“Hashem came from...
The Book to Take to Yom Kippur
Even inanimate objects “pray.” When a bris takes place on Rosh Hashanah, and the mohel happens to be the one who will afterwards sound the shofar, we instruct him not to wash out his...
Ha’azinu — When Bravado is Banned (and links to other pieces)
It’s odd that, when Moshe Rabbeinu and Yehoshua transmit the shirah of Haazinu to the people, the Torah refers to Yehoshua as Hoshea (Devarim 32:44), his original name. Moshe, of course, had changed his...