Devarim – The Ox Whisperer… and Us
The navi Yeshayahu famously invokes a metaphorical bovine and equine at the beginning of his prophecy, which is recited as the haftarah of the parsha, “An ox knows its owner, donkey its master’s trough. Yisrael...
Mattos — Respect and Realities
For a religion derided in some circles as denigrating women, Judaism would seem to have an odd attitude. In a famous aphorism based on the list of adornments in our parsha (Bamidbar 31:50), Chazal...
Leaders, Reluctant and Otherwise
Although the Torah tells us that Moshe did precisely what he was commanded to do and transmitted his leadership role to Yehoshua, along with a degree of his spiritual splendor, the pasuk relates, seemingly...
Trump Is No Fascist, And There Is No War Against Torah
We would not expect better from someone as morally and intellectually handicapped as AOC. She had this priceless response to an unnamed, senior House Democrat who said that Democratic leaders had resigned themselves to...
Balak – Coddling Curses
There’s a question that begs to be asked at the very start of the parsha, about Balak’s determination to curse the Jews: Why? I don’t mean what motivated him. That is clear in the...
Chukas – Choose Your Weapon
Approaching the land of Edom, Moshe Rabbeinu sends messengers to the region’s king, requesting passage through his land. Moshe reminds Esav’s descendant of how his ancestor’s brother’s descendants had sojourned in Mitzrayim for “many...
Korach – Democracy and Its Discontents
Few contrasts in the Torah are as stark as the one between Moshe Rabbeinu and Korach. The latter is propelled by jealousy, a blinding sense of self (and self-entitlement). And, like populists who followed,...
Shelach – The Import of an “It”
The Torah’s narratives are pertinent to every generation. But certain accounts resonate particularly blatantly in certain times. Like the saga of the ma’apilim, the “insisters,” those Jews in the desert who repented of having...
Biha’aloscha – Being Aharon
Something special about Aharon HaCohein is telegraphed in the sentence “And Aharon did so,” after Moshe’s brother receives instructions about lighting the menorah in the Mishkan (Bamidbar 8:3). Rashi, paraphrasing Sifri, comments: “This tells...
Naso – Kosher Favoritism
To some, chumros, or stringencies beyond what halacha requires, are always laudable. But in the Vidui Rabbeinu Nissim, recited on Yom Kippur Katan, we confess, amid actual sins, that “What You declared pure I declared impure… what...