Before Parshat Pinchas buries itself in the sacrificial order for each holiday (what becomes the Maftir reading for those days), we hear the story of Tzlafchad’s daughters. Without … more

The first of our two parshiot (Matot and Masei) contains a rather quizzical pasuk: “Eleazar the kohen said to the soldiers returning from battle, ‘This is the statute that the L-rd … more

The listing of the travels of the Israelites in the wilderness finishes, in Parshas Masei, with these verses: “They left Almon Divlathaymah and camped in the Avarim mountains in front of Nebo. … more

How could anyone have thought this fellow was suited to be a gunner? His name was Shachar, which means the dawn, and the joke was that with him around it was always dawn, because he blotted out the … more

According to the first passage on our parasha, Hashem gave all the nations of the world the same opportunities and potential for leadership. This is based upon the notion that G-d’s actions … more

A larger view of the Torah provides the context through which we can see how the Biblical Israelites were meant to relate to their neighbors in the lands within and surrounding the Promised Land. … more

One of the conclusions of an IDF review of the Tzuk Eitan (Defensive Shield) war fought in Gaza in the summer of 2014 was that it was a bad idea to have encouraged soldiers to write letters to their … more

I remember one of the guys I was in yeshiva with, trying to convince me not to sign up for Officer’s course. I would be forced to spend an additional year and a half in the army, without … more

To the best of my counting (and I’m happy to hear a correction), the Torah mentions the concept of Shabbos once in Bereishis, six times in Shemos, four times in Vayikra, twice in Bamidbar … more

That we should love the stranger, the ger, is the fourth mitzvah in Maimonides’ Hilchot Deot (laws of ethical relationships). And as one is not meant to remind a person that he or she is a … more