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