Parshat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22) Rabbi David Stav This Shabbat, we will begin a new book of the Chumash, the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). The special name given to this Shabbat – Shabbat Chazon, which immediately precedes the fast day of Tisha b’Av – is associated with the first haftarah of the book of Deuteronomy, which begins: …
Parshat Matot-Masei (Numbers 30:2 – 36:13) Rabbi David Stav The first part of this week’s Torah portion deals with vows. According to Torah law, if a man makes a vow, i.e. forbids himself from enjoying a particular object, or contributes that object as an endowment or charity, that man must keep his vow. If not, he will be transgressing a prohibition …
Parshat Pinchas(Numbers 25:10 – 30:1) Rabbi David Stav Looking at our Hebrew calendars, we notice that we have now entered “The Three Weeks”, which began on the seventeenth of the month of Tammuz, the day the walls of Jerusalem were breached, and will end on the ninth of the month of Av – Tisha b’Av, the day the Holy Temple was destroyed. …
Parshat Balak (Numbers 22:2 – 25:9) Rabbi David Stav Parshat Balak contains one of the most colorful stories in the Torah – one that seems to have been quoted right out of contemporary headlines. The People of Israel are now in the fortieth year of their long journey in the desert, and are about to enter the Land of Israel, following the deaths …
Parshat Chukat (Numbers 19:1 – 22:1) Rabbi David Stav A unique phenomenon in the Torah emerges in the sequence of events not recounted in the text. Forty years of wandering in the desert have passed, and we can only imagine all that had occurred during that time, since the Torah tells us nothing about it. It is as if the Torah is saying to us: …
Parshat Korach (Numbers 16:1 – 18:32) Rabbi David Stav Let us revisit the story of the most famous argument in the history of the Jewish people. Over the generations, disputes of a similar – and even harsher – level have been a constant in Jewish history, and show no signs of subsiding. What is the source for this dispute? What prompted …
Parshat Shlach (Numbers 13:1 – 15:41) Rabbi David Stav The story of the sin of the spies, upon which the Torah greatly elaborates, is the lead story of Parshat Shlach. The nation sets out toward the Promised Land on the twentieth day of the month of Iyar, after a stay of nearly one year near Mount Sinai. The trip should have taken about ten days, …
Parshat Behaalotcha (Numbers 8:1-12:16) Rabbi David Stav After spending nearly a year at Mount Sinai, the People of Israel sets out toward to the Land of Israel, busying themselves with last-minute preparations for the arduous journey. Hashem calls Moshe, and says to him: “Make yourself two silver trumpets; you shall make them (from a) beaten …
Parshat Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89) Rabbi David Stav This Shabbat, we’ll read Parashat Naso. It has 176 verses, making it the longest Parasha in the Torah (incidentally, it has the same number of verses as the longest chapter of Tehillim, and there are 176 pages in longest tractate of the Babylonian Talmud). Many of these verses describe the sacrifices …
Parshat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1 – 4:20) Rabbi David Stav This Shabbat, we’ll read the opening Torah portion of the fourth of the five Books of Moses – the Book of Bamidbar. Then, later in the week, we will celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, which our rabbis termed “the time of the giving of the Torah” (no explicit connection is made in …