Parshas בַּמִדְבָּר Dad’s Army צַב: covered carriage, turtle צְבִי: deer, desire, splendor צָבָה: to swell צָבָא: army ה’ צְבָא-וֹת: Lord...

When detailing the laws of the Nazirite, the Torah forbids him from cutting his hair by stating, “A razor (taar) shall not pass over his...

The Torah mentions a special prayer which Moshe would say when the Ark of the Covenant would begin to travel (we say this prayer when...

The Torah relates that not long after the Jews left Mount Sinai, the erev rav — who were the “mixed-multitudes” of Egyptians that joined...

Shelach: Pardon Me? לע“נשלמהבנימיןבןרפאלתנצב“ה Three words are used to generally describe forgiveness and atonement: סליחה, מחילה, כפרה....

Parshas שְׁלַח If You Love Someone, Set Him Free שְׁלַח: send שֻׁלְחָן: table שְׁלַח: Send שְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת אֶרֶץ...

Parshas מַסְעֵי Inheriting the Watered Garden נַחַלָה: inheritance נְחִיל: swarm of bees נְּחִילוֹת: musical instrument נַחַל: stream...

Twin Cities: Zion and Jerusalem Many of us never stopped to think about the names Zion and Jerusalem. We may have always assumed that the...

Parshas מַטּוֹת Extending Hashem’s Hand in the World מַטֶּה: tribe, branch מַטֶּה: stick נוֹטֶה: to lean, to stretch out from, to deviate...

This week’s installment features two words which are not only synonyms, but also homonyms. The word mateh sometimes means “tribe” (almost...

Parshas פִּינְחָס The Ultimate Destination שָׁלוֹם: peace שָׁלֵם: complete, whole מְשַׁלֵם: pay שׁלֹמֹה: Solomon יְרוּשָׁלַיִם:...

United We Fast The prophet Zechariah (Zech. 9:19) foretells of a time when the four fast days will be turned into holidays days of joy...

Parshas בָּלָק This Is the End, Beautiful Friend, the End קֵץ: end מִקֵץ: the end קָצָה detestable שִׁקְצְה: goya/non-Jewish woman...

The Torah says, “A judge shall you not curse and a prince/king in your nation shall you not curse” (Ex. 22:27). This passage forbids...

Parshas חֻקַּת The Kiss of Death שֹׁקֶה: irrigate, saturate, quench תְּשׁוּקָה: desire, longing מַשְׁקֶה: liquid, drink שׁוּק: market...

Afraid of Fright or Ready to Fight The social sciences like psychology and sociology seek to quantify man’s reactions to various types of...

Parshas קֹרַח Grave Questions, Grave Implications שׁוֹאֵל: borrow שָׁאוּל: King Shaul שְׁאֵלָה: question שְׁאוּל: grave וַיֵּרְדוּ הֵם...

The Land Down Under When relating the story of Korach and his household being miraculously swallowed into the ground, the Torah (Numbers...

Spy versus Spy Conventional linguists trace the origins of the English word “tourist” to the Old French word tourner (“to turn”)....