Parshah • May 2022
Bechukotai – Life’s Rewards
Why expect material rewards for spiritual activity as our Parsha seems to suggest? That appears inconsistent but only so if one dichotomises life into religious and secular. We don’t. It…
Parshah • May 2022
Behar – Look Before You Leap
This week’s Parsha tells us that we need to give the ground a Sabbatical once every seven years, and then it goes on to say that we can work the…
Parshah • May 2022
Emor – Let the Feet Do the Talking
The Shalosh regalim, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot are referred to as the ‘foot’ festivals, because we made the pilgrimage on foot. We shed the comforts of home but returned with…
Parshah • May 2022
Kedoshim – Adding Spiritual Value to the World
Moses instructs the Jewish nation to be ‘holy’. But how can we accomplish this in this lowly material realm where the innate spirituality seems missing? Through Mitzvot we elevate it…
Parshah • April 2022
Acharei – The Mishkan: Inter-dimensional Space
Moses warns his brother about entering the Mishkan at will. Because the Anan, the surrounding ‘cloud’ created a ‘fifth dimension’ – Sovev, to occupy the Mishkan preventing entry, except when…
Parshah • April 2022
Shevi’I Shel Pesach – When Nature is the True Miracle
On the 7th day of Pesach we read about the splitting of the sea. That event is considered a miracle. But was that a real miracle or is the seemingly…
Parshah • April 2022
Pesach – Your Daily Exodus
The exodus from Egypt was a blueprint for our future exodus from the current enslavement – albeit that ours is a psychological enslavement that creates confusion in the world. The…
Parshah • April 2022
Metzorah – Breathe Easy
When Moshe Rabbeinu first approached his enslaved brothers and sisters, they ignored him. Rashi notes their breathing was stressfully shallow and short. A person of faith sidesteps anxiety and stress…
Parshah • March 2022
Tazria – A Baby in Mother’s Womb
This week’s parsha, Tazria begins with a discussion of conception and birth. Just as a baby in its mother’s womb, is bent over, unseeing, and fully dependent, so are the…
Parshah • March 2022
Shemini – Delete ‘Seven’ – Express ‘Eight’
Design underlies all of creation, presupposing both intent and a Grand Designer. The surface of the world is represented by the number seven – natural law. The number eight represents…
Parshah • March 2022
Tzav – Thick Steaks and Double Milk-Shakes
When making the offerings in the temple, the fats had to be burnt first. Interestingly, when we fast, we use up our storage fats – focusing that day on the…
Parshah • March 2022
Vayikra – Beginning With the Hardest First
Vayikra, the third volume of Torah, is the most difficult, filled with technical details of offerings and sacrifices. Yet children begin their studies right here. To teach the young child…
Parshah • May 2021
Behar/Bechukotai – Mt. Sinai Was No Everest
Mt. Sinai was not the tallest mountain in the Middle East – it was modest, almost a mere hill-top. This teaches us the virtue of humility and ego-abnegation. If we…
Parshah • May 2021
Emor – Enlightened Education
Education means bringing light into the lives of our children – literally, enlightenment. This can only take place if the school, or parents, explain the Torah meaning of life, plus…