Parshat Yitro 5778 (In Spanish with English subtitles)  Rabbi Eliahu Birnbaum – Director of OTS’s Beren-Amiel and Straus-Amiel Emissary Training Programs

“Yitro and Moshe’s Fatal Flaw” — Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s insights into Parshat Yitro  Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “And the entire nation responded together and said, “Everything the Lord has spoken we shall do” (Ex. 19:8). Religious coercion has long threatened Israeli society, bringing to the surface all the tensions inherent in our unprecedented experiment of maintaining …

Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23)  Rabbi David Stav  As we read Parshat Yitro this Shabbat, we find the central theme of the entire Torah: the connection between God and mankind, through which the Almighty guides us, telling us which behaviors are appropriate, and which ones we should avoid. This is not something we should take for granted. The first …

  שומרים על קשר משה רוצה שכל אחד מעם ישראל יחווה את הקשר הכי ישיר שניתן מול הקב”ה, כמו שהוא זכה לעשות. וכך הוא מוצא עצמו הדיין היחיד לעם ישראל ועומד בפניה דילמה אל מול הצורך למערכת משפט יעילה ומסודרת. …

“Why Was The Torah Not Given in the Land of Israel?” — Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s insights into Parshat Yitro Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1 – 20:23) Rabbi David Stav  The “Ten Commandments” is the “piece de resistance” of the Torah, where we read of the connection between Hashem and man, and where man receives direct instructions from Hashem on what he must do, and that from which he must abstain. The first time we came across anything like this is …

Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1 – 20:23) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin   Efrat, Israel — “You shall not climb up My altar with steps, so that your nakedness will not be revealed on it.” [Ex. 20:22] In the time when the Torah was given, all religions were intimately connected with sexuality, temple prostitutes, and orgiastic rites. One of the …

הדרך בה חיפש יתרו את הקשר ליהדות הרב יעקב פישר אנשים זקוקים לקשר ולמגע אנושי, משוועים לאכפתיות מן הזולת ומן החברה, רוצים שיקשיבו להם. כך בכל העולם, כך הטבע והפסיכולוגיה של המין האנושי, אלא שבישראל …

Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23)  Rabbi David Stav  (Translated from the Hebrew original) A select few Torah portions are named after an individual, and it is even rarer for a parsha to be named after a non-Jew. Three individuals merited this privilege: Noach, Yitro (Moshe’s father-in-law), and Balak, the king of Moav. Noach is the focal point …