The Torah states, “Love your fellow man as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:18).
The Talmud relates that a non-Jew came to Hillel and said to him, “Convert me on the condition that you will teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.” Hillel accepted his condition and told him, “What you dislike, [...]

Double Torah Portion: Tazria-Metzora
The Torah states, “Remember what God did to Miriam on the way when you left Egypt” (Deuteronomy 24:9).
Almost the entirety of this double Torah portion is concerned with the intricate laws of tzora’at. Tzora’at was a spiritual disease that afflicted people as a consequence of having spoken badly about another person [...]

Moses thought that his brother, Aaron, had made a mistake regarding an offering and censured him. Aaron explained why his action was proper. The Torah then reports:
“And Moses heard and it was good in his eyes.” (Leviticus 10:20)
What lesson for life can we learn from Moses’ reaction?
Many people, when they find [...]

Torah Portion: Passover
The Torah states, “and you shall count for yourselves from the day after [Passover]…, seven complete weeks.” (Exodus 23:15).
Our Sages tell us that the period of counting between Passover and Shavuot serves to separate between the Exodus from Egypt and acceptance of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. The Jews in Egypt were [...]

Torah Portion: Tzav

In our day, we may not fully appreciate the sacrificial system commanded in the Torah.  Still, it’s important to extract the timeless lessons contained therein:
The Torah states, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying, ‘This is the law of the sin-offering. At the place where you sacrifice the elevation-offering you shall sacrifice the [...]

Torah Portion: VaYikra

The very first word in this week’s portion is unusual. The letter “aleph” at the end of the word “VaYikra” is written smaller than the rest of the letters in the word. This is the prescribed way for the Torah to be written, and it has been done so since the very first [...]

Double Torah Portion: VaYak’hel and Pikudei
The Torah states, “And they will make me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.” It doesn’t state “and I will dwell in it,” but, “and I will dwell among them” (the ones who made it). The Jewish people themselves become the vehicle for the divine to dwell in [...]