At the end of every command-course in the Israeli army, a questionnaire known as a Sociometric test is given to each cadet. It’s a pretty simple form: each soldier is asked to list five fellow … more

By Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of August 14, 2009 / 24 Av 5769 With all the discussion about healthcare in this country, we can make the argument that Jews have valued human life more than anyone … more

It is a moment of the highest drama. In Ki Tisa, the Israelites, forty days after the greatest revelation in history, have made an idol. G-d threatens to destroy them. Moshe, exemplifying the … more

Imagine the following scenario. You are 119 years old. The end of your life is in sight. You have been told by G-d that you will not enter the land to which you have been leading your people for … more

The second of our two parshiot, Parashat Masei, is the final parasha of Sefer Bamidbar. It concludes in this manner: “These are hamitzvot v’hamishpatim that Hashem commanded the … more

In his introduction to the book of Bamidbar, Nachmanides posits that the majority of the mitzvot of this book were commandments for the specific time period of wilderness travel and would not be applicable once they reached the land of Canaan/Israel. more

Parshat Pinchas contains the maftir readings for all of the Biblical holidays. Every holiday had a specific set of korbanot (offerings) that were brought in its honor. A similarity running across all of the holidays is a single goat which was brought as a chatat (sin offering) to atone for the sins of the people. more

Many years ago, I explored a new yeshiva at a transition point in my life. I was barely 19 years old, and I was trying to decide whether I would pursue an exclusively Talmudic education or … more

The first pasuk in our parasha, Eikev, contains the phrase, “v’haya eikev tishm’un eit hamishpatim ha’aleh.” There are a variety of classical approaches regarding … more

Scholars have long disagreed about what distinguishes human beings from the rest of the animal world. •Some have argued that it is man’s intelligence and use of language that … more