Parshat Behar: Freedom and Identity By Rabbi Shlomo Wallfish, senior faculty at the Robert M. Beren Machanaim Hesder Yeshiva A person who sells his patrimony relinquishes his identity. No one would do so a priori. On the jubilee year, we realize that everything belongs to Hashem. Many stories and laws in the Torah are founded …
Shabbat Shalom: Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, telling him to speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land must be given a rest period, a sabbath to God. For six …
Parshat Emor: The Meaning in the Process By Rabbi Chaim Navon, senior faculty of Midreshet Lindenbaum‘s Hadas Program – The Claudia Cohen Torah/Army Program When God sizes us up, he isn’t merely interested in whether we’ve advanced the great future awaiting our nation. He is also looking at how we handled the smaller challenges we …
Shabbat Shalom: Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them…” (Leviticus 21:1) What is the major task of a religious leader, a community rabbi or the dean of a day school? This is a question …
Parshat Kedoshim: You Shall be Holy By David Nekrutman, Executive Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC) “דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני ה’ אלקיכם“ “Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, “You shall be kadosh, for I, …
Shabbat Shalom: Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. (Leviticus 19:2) Holiness is certainly a “religious” word expressing a worthy ideal, if not the worthiest of …
Acharei Mot: The Incense, the Sacrifices, the Individual and Togetherness By Yoni Riskin, OTS Director of Development “Thus said the Holy One, Blessed Be He: of all of the sacrifices you offer up, there is none dearer to me than the incense offering” (Tanhuma on Parashat Tetzaveh) At the beginning of this week’s parsha, we …
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Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “And God spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before the Lord and died.” (Leviticus 16:1) Which is the greater evil in God’s eyes – hot sins of passion or …
Celebrating the Jewish Nation on the Last Day of Pesach by Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Director of OTS Amiel BaKehila After our youngest son was born in the United States, the nurses brought a number of forms for my wife to fill out, including a social security form. They asked her to fill out some demographic …
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Shabbat Shalom: Last Day(s) of Pesach By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “The Lord will do battle for you and you shall be silent” (Exodus 14:14) The last day of the festival of Passover is dedicated to the splitting of the Reed’s Sea, one of the most dramatic and cataclysmic events in Biblical history. …
Shabbat Shalom: Pesach By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – On Seder night, we are commanded to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The Mishna tells us that the retelling should be done in response to questions posed by the children. If they have no questions, we teach them the four questions, which …
