The Torah tells us: “And when you came to this place, Sichon, king of Cheshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, came out against us for battle, and we struck them. We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuven, to Gad, and to half the tribe of Menashe.” (Devarim 29:6–7). Moshe here reminds the Jewish people of their battles against Sichon and Og, their victories over these powerful kings, and the subsequent settlement of their lands by the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and

In this week's parsha, the Torah teaches: “If a man has committed a sin punishable by death and is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, you shall not leave his body overnight upon the tree. Rather, you shall surely bury him on that day, for a hanging person is a disgrace to G-d; and you shall not defile your land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you as an inheritance.” (Devarim 21:22–23) The Torah gives a striking reason why the body may not remain hanging overnight: “for a

In this week’s parsha, the Torah commands the Jewish people to establish cities of refuge for a person who kills another human being unintentionally: “You shall set aside three cities in the land that Hashem, your G-d, is giving you to possess. You shall prepare for yourself the road.” (Devarim 19:2-3) What additional commandment is the Torah teaching by telling us, “You shall prepare for yourself the road”? Rashi, citing the Gemara in Makkos (10b), explains that the roads to

In this week's parsha, the Torah presents the prohibition against eating blood: "Only be strong not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat." (Devarim 12:23) This verse is puzzling. Most people naturally find the consumption of blood repulsive. Why, then, does the Torah prohibit something that people would ordinarily avoid anyway? Rashi offers two explanations. In his second, he cites Shimon ben Azzai: "The Torah comes only to

The Torah tells us about the experience of the Jewish people during their forty years in the desert: “He afflicted you and let you hunger, then He fed you the manna… in order to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of Hashem does man live.” (Devarim 8:3) Hashem allowed the Jewish people to experience hunger before providing them with the manna so that they would recognize that their sustenance ultimately comes fro

In this week’s parsha, the Torah warns us: “You shall not test Hashem, your G-d, as you tested Him at Massah.” (Devarim 6:16) What does it mean that the Jewish people “tested” Hashem at Massah? Soon after the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Red Sea, the Jewish people arrived at Refidim: “They encamped in Refidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. The people contended with Moshe and they said, ‘Give us water that we may drink!’ Moshe said to them, ‘Why

Why did Hashem command the Jewish people to treat the nations of Moav and Ammon differently, even though both descended from Lot and both later acted with hostility toward Israel? Moshe recounts in Sefer Devarim that, on their journey to the Land of Israel, the Jewish people were instructed to bypass both nations. Yet the Torah uses different language for each. Regarding Moav, the Torah states: "You shall not distress Moav and you shall not provoke war with them." (Devarim 2:

Why does the Torah introduce the laws of vows at the very moment the Jewish people are preparing to enter the Land of Israel? The Torah opens Parshas Matos with the following command: “If a man takes a vow to Hashem or swears an oath to establish a prohibition upon himself, he shall not desecrate his word; according to whatever comes from his mouth shall he do.” (Bamidbar 30:3). At first glance, this section seems out of place. The closing chapters of Sefer Bamidbar focus alm

We learn the laws of inheritance from a simple request made by five sisters. The Torah tells us that the daughters of Zelophehad, whose father died without leaving any sons, approached Moshe and asked: "Why should the name of our father be omitted from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers." (Bamidbar 27:3–4) They longed to inherit their father's portion in the Land of Israel, even though the prevailing laws of inheritance pr

One of the most difficult episodes in the Torah occurs in Parshas Chukas, when Moshe is commanded to bring forth water from a rock. Hashem instructs Moshe and Aharon: “Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth its water.” (Bamidbar 20:8) Instead of speaking to the rock, however, Moshe struck it twice with his staff, and water flowed abundantly. Hashem then responded with a severe decree: “Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the C