Torah Insights

"Who am I?" Humility vs. EvasionRabbi Eliyahu Gateno is the Rosh Kollel of the Straus Semicha Program training rabbis for the Diaspora, part of Ohr Torah Stone's Joseph and Gwendolyn...

Shabbat Shalom: Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89)By Rabbi Shlomo RiskinEfrat, Israel – Few passages in the Bible are as well-known as the Priestly Benediction.In Israel, the kohanim (priests) rise to bless the...

Episode 19: “Jerusalem in our Hearts: Near and Far” What caused a small group of Jewish warriors in the Golan Heights, so far away from Jerusalem, to put their lives...

Parshat Beha’alotcha: Insights to Inner Lights Rabbi David and Tirtza Benchlouch are Straus-Amiel shlichim in Seattle, Washington, where David serves as the rabbi of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth Parshat Beha’alotcha highlights themes central...

Episode 18: “What is God’s Role in the Halakhic Process” An angel appears to you and teaches you Torah. Would you rule on matters of Jewish law in accordance to...

Shabbat Shalom: Shavuot By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – Our calendar moves from the spring festivals of Passover and Shavuot to the fall festivals of universal redemption and plenty,...

Parshat Naso: The Nazirite According to Rabbi Elia Benamozegh’s Em laMikra Rabbanit Malka and Rabbi Eliezer Shai Di Martino  are Straus-Amiel shlichim serving as the community rabbinical couple in Lausanne,...

Shabbat Shalom: Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1 - 4:20) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – "Count the heads of the entire witness-congregation of Israel” (Numbers 1:2). The Book of Numbers opens...

Episode 17: “The Chamber of Silent Gifts” How many of us think of the Beit HaMikdash as a place of chessed and acts of kindness? In this week’s episode of...

Parshat Bamidbar: Constantly on the Road Rabbi Yedidya and Ahuva Toyber are Straus-Amiel shlichim in Caracas Venezuela, where Yedidya is the rabbi of the Sephardic community and head of the...

Episode 16: “Visioning What Others Don’t See” True Jewish leadership is leadership with a vision. Leadership that sees beyond the here and now. What is the important message that Rabbi...

Parshat Behar-Bechukotai: The Slippery Slope Rachel and Evyatar HaCohen are former Beren-Amiel shlichim at the South Peninsula Hebrew Day School in Palo Alto, California, USA The portion of Behar focuses...

Shabbat Shalom: Behar-Bechukotai 5783 (Leviticus 25:1-27: 34) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in...

Episode 15: “Why the Rabbi Wrote on Shabbat” Why did Rabbi Kalonymus insist on being buried outside of the Jewish cemetery – and without a tombstone? How is his request...

Shabbat Shalom: Emor 5783 (Leviticus 21:1-24:23) By Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – "Remove the blasphemer to the outside of the camp” (Leviticus 24:14) Our Biblical portion of Emor concludes...