Shmini: Why 8?
Nadav and Avihu offered their unauthorized fire with an amazing heart full of love of Hashem. What was so terribly wrong that they were both killed instantly? What is the critical message for our own mitzvah observance?
Rabbi Pinchas Winston
Rabbi Pinchas Winston
The Secret of Israeli Independence Day
Is there any significance that Israeli Independence Day is on 5-Iyar? YES, says the Vilna Gaon! This date is closely tied to Mashiach and the Final Redemption. Let's not pass up this golden opportunity to pray especially hard for both!
Va’etchanan: You Can’t Plead Everyone
What is the big deal about Moshe not being permitted to enter Eretz Yisrael? Being kept away indicates a broken relationship between the Jew and Hashem.
Vayakhel: A Shabbos Gathering
If so, then beginning with the mitzvah to build the Mishkan just after returning from G-d with atonement for the golden calf would have hammered...
Vayakhel: The Need for Unity
Everyone's eyebrows go up over the emphasis on Moshe's gathering of the people to hear G-d's command, asking, "Why is this night different from all others?"
Ki Tisa: No More Holy Cows, Please!
The sin of the golden calf remains to be a blemish on the "score card" of the Jewish nation that won't go away. Indeed, as Rashi points out...
Ki Tisa: What a Choice!
It is so bizarre! A golden calf? There are so many symbols of reckless fun. Why would the organizers decide to make something as strange as this? Read this true story from 2004 that eerily resembles the Supernova music festival and its choices almost 20 years later.
Tetzaveh: A Smile for Baalei Teshuva
For Baalei Teshuva, something always remains behind. Often, they are unconscious memories that surface when an event triggers the memory. Nonetheless, there is plenty for the baal teshuvah to smile about!
Terumah: The Adar 180
The wicked Haman and Achashverosh wanted to convince the Jews that Hashem had abandoned them, but the month of Adar brought a 180...
Mishpatim: Table With A (Torah) View
After the Torah was given, those who received it pass it on to the next generation of Jews. Therefore, the first issue is "chinuch" - Torah education.
Yitro: The Case for Unity
We are living in very dramatic times. Never before has achdut been more crucial. What appears to be the Erev Rav tries to splinter the Jewish People and to destroy all that we were redeemed from Egypt to create and maintain. Nonetheless, achdut must prevail.
Beshalach: Elevate the Mundane
Oh, the drama of it all. There were the Jewish people, fleeing the mightiest empire in the world at that time into… into what? Into a deadly desert with only…