In Parshat Bo there are three signs: The plagues in Egypt are called a “sign” (Ex. 10:1-2), the blood which the Jews were supposed to...

Turning off the Lights The ninth plague in Egypt was the plague of darkness. When describing this plague, the Torah relates that G-d told...

This upcoming week is a little-known holiday called Tu B’Shevat (the 15th of the month of Shevat). The Mishna (Rosh Hashanah 1:1) says...

Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com Sweet and Pleasant Not long after the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt, they travelled in the desert for three...

Myself and I The Ten Commandments famously open with the words, “I am Hashem your G-d who took you out of Egypt…” (Ex. 20:2). In this...

The Midrash tells us that Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro (Jethro) had seven different names by which he is called in the Bible: Yitro,...

Rabbi of Robbers The Amoraic sage Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, also known as Reish Lakish, serves as the quintessential baal teshuvah, as he...

The Torah (Ex. 21:6) teaches that if a Hebrew bondsman opts to continue with his master after his initial seven-year indenture, then “his...

This week ushers in the month of Adar in all its glory. Like all the months of the Jewish calendar, the name Adar is derived from the...

There are two words which refer to the accumulation of holiness on a spatial level: Mishkan and Mikdash. Although the Talmud (Eruvin 2a)...

When Esav found out that the blessing from his father Yitzchak had been given to Yaakov, Esav “cried out a great and bitter cry” (Genesis...

Hats and Belts The Torah teaches us about the special garments to be worn by the Kohanim (priests) while performing the ritual duties in...

As Moshe prayed to G-d to forgive the Jewish People for sinning at the golden calf, G-d revealed to Moshe His Thirteen Attributes of...

Divine Dictator or Populist King After Joseph told his brothers about his dreams, which seemed to foretell Joseph’s eventual rise to...

The Beauty of Adar This upcoming week ushers in the month of Adar in all its glory. Like all the months of the Jewish calendar, the name...

The Malbim and others explain how a bevy of apparent synonyms for “clothing” actually differ from one another. As many commentators note,...

Have you ever heard an old Jewish Bubby (Yiddish for “grandmother”) refer to wild kids as chayot or behemot? Do you know what she’s...

In the aftermath of the Ten Spies fiasco, the Jewish people were doomed to remain in the wilderness for forty years until the rise of the...

This Shabbat we read Parshat HaChodesh, the last of four special Torah readings before Pesach. Parshat HaChodesh establishes Nissan as...

Edmund Burke (1729-1797), the father of contemporary conservatism, purportedly said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is...