In the middle of Devarim Chapter 4, in this week’s parsha Vaeschanan, Moshe describes a future when the people abandon G-d in pursuit of idols: “G-d will spread you among the nations, and … more

I close my eyes and I’m there: a moment full of sound and fury and signifying … everything. Bullets flying everywhere, smoke grenades making it difficult to see, M-203 grenade … more

This week’s haftarah for parashat Devarim is taken from the first chapter of Sefer Yeshayahu. As befitting the Shabbat immediately before Tisha b’Av, much of its message is very dark and … more

As the history of the Israelites in the wilderness is reviewed in Devarim, an interesting trend is presented. The nations of Eisav, Moav and Ammon are treated as closer than brothers with … more

Visit Yad Vashem , Israel’s national Holocaust museum, and wander off to the paths behind the plaza dedicated to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and you will come across an actual cattle car, one of … more

S he was the Other Doctor of Auschwitz and I recently read a story about her in Yitta Halberstam’s small miracles series.  A young woman (we’ll call her Chaya) had just arrived … more

The phrase, “aleh hamitzvot” (“these are the commandments”), appears twice in the Torah — in the concluding pasukim of Sefer Vayikra, and in our parasha, Matot-Masei, in … more

The truth is, it depends. The Torah, for example, says that if a person kills someone accidentally, the blood of the victim shall be avenged (Shmot 21:20). Chapter 19 in Devarim discusses the … more

T his week we commemorated the breaching of the Old City walls of Jerusalem by the Roman Tenth Legion on the 17th day of Tammuz in the year 70 C.E., heralding the beginning of the end of the Jewish … more

A  great tragedy unfolded when Moses sinned at the Waters of Dispute (Mei Merivah). As the Torah states in our parasha, Pinchas: “You [Moses] disobeyed My command in the desert of Zin … more