Moshe
Va’eschanan – Entering Israel
Why was it so important to Moshe to go into Israel? What is the significance of Hashem’s response – ‘don’t speak to Me about this,’ and ‘go up on the mountain to see the land?’ What is the value of seeing the land if he could not go there? Why is this the circumstance that…
Read MoreDevarim-Tisha B’av – Unifying Duality
Why is the lesson of Devarim before Tisha B’av? How did Moshe become able to speak so eloquently when he originally categorized himself as ‘heavy of tongue?’ What does it mean that the Torah ‘cures the tongue?’ What is the significance of the teaching that a sefer Torah can be written in any language, or…
Read MorePinchas – Spiritual Intuition
Why do we need so many different voices pointing out which piece of the land of Israel is given to which tribe? What does it mean that the lottery ticket itself spoke? What is the message of the midrash in saying that the women of Israel were able to close the spiritual gap created by…
Read MoreKorach – You Can Have It All
Why does Korach indicate that he is looking for social equality, if he really wants to take over as high priest? Why does the midrash indicate that he wanted to be the prince of the family of Kehos, if Moshe seems to indicate he was after the high priesthood? Why does Moshe tell the Levites…
Read MoreShlach – Seeing Through the Lie
Why does Hashem respond so harshly to the Jewish people’s lack of faith when they cry with the spies’ report? Why were the Jewish people so afraid to enter Israel if they had just seen, and continued to see, the many miracles Hashem performed on their behalf? Why did they not believe they would continue…
Read MoreVaera- Balancing Fire and Ice
Why is the seventh plague – hail – the first that is performed by Moshe alone? Why is there a stress on the fact that he raises his hands ‘to heaven?’ What does it mean that Moshe has power over heaven and earth? Why does the hail coexist with fire? Why does Hashem’s mercy join…
Read MoreDevarim-Tisha B'av – Rectifying a Splintered Reality
Why did Moshe translate the Torah into 70 languages if the Jewish people at that time only spoke Hebrew and Egyptian? What is the curative power of the Torah? How does the Torah transport a person to the World to Come? How did Moshe go from a person who was ‘not a man of words’…
Read MoreMatos-Masei – Good Subsumes Evil
Why did Joshua only live to be 110 years old as opposed to Moshe who lived until 120? Why did Moshe want to see the ‘revenge’ of the Jewish people on Midian before his death? What does the word nekama (revenge) really mean? What is the difference between seeing and hearing? Find out in this…
Read MoreChukas – The Gift of Love
What was the difference if Moshe spoke to the rock or struck the rock in order for it to bring forth water? How does that affect the learning of Torah to this day? How does speaking connote love, while striking connotes judgment? How does one reach the level of love in one’s relationship with Hashem?…
Read MoreBehar-Bechukosai – 50,000 Years of the World
What is the ‘secret’ of the Shmitah and Jubilee years? How do they correspond to the 50,000 year cycle that the world will last for? How does the Yovel (Jubilee) correspond to Shavuos, which is on the 50th day? What is the difference between the concepts of six and seven (Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach…
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