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Parasha Eikev (Because): Possessing the Promised Land

When we honor our covenant with God by choosing to love Him and to keep His commandments, not only do we receive God’s blessing on our own lives, but so do our children, and our children’s children, to a thousand generations down the line! Because God keeps His covenant "for a thousand generations," it's entirely possible that some of the tremendous benefits and blessings we are reaping today are because of the faithfulness of our ancestors.

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Parasha Devarim (Words): The Power of Words

Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, by Francesco Hayez

Parasha Devarim opens with the Israelites poised to enter the Promised Land. Standing on the banks of the Jordan, Moses knows his life is coming to an end, but before his death, he recounts to Israel their story as a community and as a nation, and rebukes them: "When the Lord heard what you said, He was angry and solemnly swore: Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers." (Deuteronomy 1:34–35)

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Parasha Matot-Masei (Tribes-Journeys): Vows, Oaths, and Victory

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In this week's Parasha, Moses speaks to the heads of the tribes (matot) about the laws governing vows (neder) and oaths (shevua). The Hebrew word neder, which is often translated vow in English Bibles, though English really does not have an equivalent word, denotes a solemn declaration using the name of God to consecrate something to God and also, to do something in His service or honor.

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Keeping It Holy: The Shabbat in Israel and Around the World

Shabbat_Candles

Life seems to come to a standstill on Friday nights in Israel. As the cool of the evening sweeps in, a calm announces the Shabbat - day of rest. There is nothing that more personifies Judaism and the Jewish People than the Jewish Sabbath. The Shabbat has been kept as the one day of the week devoted to rest ever since it was given as law to the Israelites by Moses.

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Parasha Pinchas (Phinehas): Destiny, Consecration and Knowing God

Torah-scroll-mantle-cover

Pinchas was filled with hatred and fury against the sexual sin that so grossly profaned God’s holy name, and so he acted. The Israelites, perhaps, were unsure of his motivation, and may have been willing to punish him for his fanatic extremism; however, God, who saw his heart, set the matter straight and came to Pinchas' rescue by openly rewarding him.

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Fast of Tammuz: Is the Temple Mount Holy?

A model of the Jerusalem Temple

Tzom Tammuz (Fast of Tammuz / 17th of Tammuz) memorializes the breaching of Jerusalem's walls by Nebuchadnezzar after a long siege that brought starvation to those inside Jerusalem’s walls. On this day, the priests in the First Temple stopped offering the Tamid (Perpetual Offering) because the walls were breached, and they had run out of lambs for the offerings. Within weeks, the First Temple was destroyed and all the houses burned. The majority of the Jewish people were taken captive.

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Parasha Balak (Destroyer): Curses and Superstition

In this week’s Torah portion, the Moabite king, Balak, resorts to the power of cursing after seeing Israel’s victory over the Amorites. To ensure the downfall of Israel, he offers Balaam, a renowned pagan prophet, fabulous riches in exchange for cursing Israel. Instead of cursing Israel, however, Balaam pronounces a blessing over Israel while speaking under the compulsion of the Spirit of God and asks, “How can I put a curse on people God hasn’t cursed?” (Numbers 23:8)

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Parasha Chukat (Statute or Decree): Humble Origins, Grand Destinies, and Rash Vows

Torah-Sefer-Shabbat-yad

In today's Sedra (also called Parasha or weekly Torah portion), Moses is given the law of the Parah Adumah (Red Heifer), the ashes of which purify those who have sinned or become ritually impure (tamei) through contact with a dead body (tumat met). The Israelites also arrive in the wilderness of Zin, after journeying in the desert for 38 or 40 years (depending upon rabbinic interpretation). There, Moses strikes the rock to bring forth water for the thirsty Israelites, instead of speaking to the rock as God had commanded him.

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