40 years after leaving Egypt and slavery the children of Israel are ready to enter into the promised land.    There is one small...

Should we observe the Tora and its commandments, expecting a material reward? This week's Parasha seems to respond affirmatively to this question. The second part...

  עוד ישמע בערי יהודה ובחוצות ירושלם קול ששון קול שמחה קול חתן קול כלה We have left behind a mourning period for the Bet haMiqdash,...

This coming Saturday night, August 6th and Sunday August 7th,  we will commemorate Tish'a beAb, the Jewish National Day of Mourning. Our rabbis mentioned five...

One of the deepest spiritual experiences I have in Israel has to do ironically with food. More specifically, eating a meal with bread, something...

JERUSALEM, BEFORE SUNSET  For the past week, I have been in Bak'a, a beautiful neighborhood in Jerusalem. Last Shabbat, my wife and I decided to...

WHO WAS BILAM? Although one of the Perashiot we read this week is named after the King of Moab, Balaq, the main protagonist is a...

"If you will follow My decrees and keep My commandments, and you shall perform them. And I will give your rains in their time,...

The Israelites are in the desert, ready to conquer the promised land. Moshe decides to send twelve men on an intelligence mission, behind enemy...

Portrait of Menasseh ben Israel  by Rembrandt Ribbi Menashe was born in Portugal in 1604, under the name Manoel Dias Soeiro. His family moved to...