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