The setting: Jerusalem some twenty centuries ago. The occasion: bringing first fruits to the Temple. Here is the scene as the Mishnah describes it. Throughout Israel, villagers would gather in … more

It was the kind of thing you would hear from old men. “Things just ain’t the way they used to be.” “This new generation is going to hell in a handbasket.” “I … more

It’s been almost 20 years, and every so often I still pause to think about how different it could have been. Just a few months ago we merited to walk our second child, our oldest son … more

If one finds something that belongs to someone else, the Torah obligates the finder to return it. Beginning with an example of a wandering animal, the mitzvah becomes more specific and general in … more

Ki Seitzei is about relationships: between men and women, parents and children, employers and employees, lenders and borrowers. Strikingly, though, it is also about relationships between humans … more

Shichaha, the commandment to leave behind a forgotten sheaf of grain for the needs of the poor, is a key agriculturally-based mitzvah that appears in our parasha, Ki Tetze: When you reap your … more

At the end of our parasha, we find a verse that contains some of the most important theological concepts of Judaism: “For if you keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, … more

Do we really appreciate all the gifts we have, and how blessed we are even with all the challenges life gives us? Eighteen years ago this Shabbat (20 Av 5761, Aug. 9, 2001), an Arab terrorist … more

In preparation for Tisha B’Av, I read through Artscroll’s Eicha and came across the following passage by Rabbi Nosson Scherman. “The truth is far beneath the surface: … more

The source of Rabbinic commandments is in Devarim chapter 17, when Moshe decreeds that the Sanhedrin, based at the place “G-d will have chosen,” will declare laws. “You must do … more