Parshat Ki Tetze (Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and God your Lord delivers them into your hands, and you…see among the captives a woman of beauty, and you desire her, you may take her to be your wife. When you bring her home, she must shave her head, and let her …

Parshat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel –  Judges and Executors of Justice shall you establish for yourselves in all of your gates…. Justice, justice shall you pursue in order that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving to you. (Deuteronomy 16:18–20) In this opening passage …

Parshat Re’eh (Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “You shall smite, yes smite, all of the inhabitants of that city by the sword…and you shall burn entirely with fire the city and all of it spoils to the Lord your God, and it shall be an everlasting desolation (tel); it shall not be rebuilt again” (Deut 13: …

Parshat Ekev (Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “And now Israel what does the Lord Your G-d ask of you, only to revere the Lord your G-d and to walk in all of His ways, and to love Him and to serve the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. To observe the commandments of the Lord and His statutes …

Parshat Vaetchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – ‘Comfort you, comfort you, My People’ (Isaiah 40:1) The Shabbat after Tisha B’Av is known as the Shabbat of Comfort, a phrase taken from the first verse of the prophetic reading from Isaiah. Additionally, a most fascinating festival day—one which is unfortunately …

Parshat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “Zion shall be redeemed because of her moral justice and her children shall return to her because of her compassionate righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27). The Shabbat before the bleak day of Tisha Be’Av, the fast commemorating the destruction of both Holy Temples, is …

Parshat Matot-Masei (Numbers 30:2–36:13) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – This week’s double portion records how the Jews finally cross the Jordan River on their way to conquer the Promised Land. The tribes of Gad, Reuven and half the tribe of Menashe possess a great multitude of cattle, and “paradise” for cattle is good grazing land, which …

Parshat Pinchas (Numbers 25:10 – 30:1) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel— Fanaticism, particularly when garbed in the clothing of myopic fundamentalism, rarely evokes in us a sympathetic bent.  How could it, given its association with an uncontrollable zeal and violence for the sake of heaven? But when we turn to the opening of this week’s …

Parshat Balak(Numbers 22:2 – 25:9) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel – “I see it but not now; I look at it, but it is not near. A star has stepped forth from Jacob and a scepter-bearer has risen from Israel; [Israel] will pierce and vanquish the nobles of Moab….” [Num. 24:17]. The interaction of Jew and Gentile is a prominent theme in …

Parshat Chukat(Numbers 19:1 – 22:1) Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Efrat, Israel — “This is the statute of the law which God commanded, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer’” [Num. 19:1–2]. One of the most profound mysteries of the Bible is the rite of the red heifer, called a chok (statute) because it …