Articles in the Parsha Category
Devarim, Featured, Ki Teitzei, Parsha »
The passage of the ben sorer u’moreh, the rebellious son, is perhaps one of the most difficult passages in the Torah to understand. A rebellious child commits a few seemingly minor infractions and is put to death. His crime? Stealing his parents money and fressing on meat and wine.
Does his gluttony warrant such a harsh treatment? Does his punishment fit the crime?
To make things even more difficult, our Sages teach (Sanhedrin 71a): “The ben sorer u’moreh never existed and never will exist. Why is it …
Devarim, Featured, Parsha, Shoftim »
In Parshat Shoftim, we find many interesting mitzvot directed at the King of Israel. Among them is the mitzvah to write two sifrei Torah:
And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a scroll, out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the LORD his G-d, to keep all the …
Devarim, Featured, Parsha, Re'eh »
“See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse.” (Devarim 11:26)
Our parsha begins with these powerful words. Yet, the language is challenging. The verse begins with the word “re’eh- see” in singular and then shifts to “lifneichem- you,” plural.
Why does the pasuk shift from singular to plural?
Ibn Ezra (11th-12th C. Spain), in his commentary, offers an explanation so simple, so elegant, yet so profound. In three words he writes: “l’chol echad yidabeir.” Yes, Moshe is addressing the entire Jewish people, but he is speaking …
Devarim, Parsha, Re'eh »
The Torah prohibits expressing grief through injury to the self:
“You are children to Hashem, your G-d- you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person.” (Devarim 14:1)
Self- mutilation and excessive grief are not ways in which we mourn. But why does the pasuk begin, “Banim atem l’Hashem Elokaichem- You are children to Hashem, your G-d…?”
What does the prohibition of inappropriate mourning have to do with the parent-child relationship that we share with G-d?
Sforno (16th C. …
