In this week’s parsha, Avraham poses a remarkable and challenging question to G-d : “Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked? What if there should be fifty righteous people in the midst of the city? Would you still stamp it out rather than spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people within it?” (Beraishis 18:23-24) Avraham was pleading with G-d to spare the people of Sodom. But this raises a difficult question: Why would Avraham do so? The p

After Sarai, Avram’s wife, recognized that she could not have any children, she offered her maidservant Hagar to Avram as a wife so Avram could have a child. Once Hagar became pregnant, however, her attitude changed: “And when she [Hagar] saw that she had conceived, her mistress [Sarai] was lowered in her esteem. (Beraishis 16:5). Rashi explains that Hagar’s arrogance stemmed from her pregnancy. She reasoned that Sarai could not truly be righteous—otherwise, she would have

Before the Flood, Hashem told Noach: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery through them; and behold, I am about to destroy them from the earth. Make for yourself an Ark of gopher wood…” (Beraishis 6:13-14). Although Hashem informed Noach that the world would be destroyed, He did not initially explain how this destruction would occur. Instead, Hashem gave Noach detailed instructions on how to build the Ark — its materials, design, and

As we begin reading Sefer Bereishis, the Torah describes the creation of mankind: “And G-d said, ‘Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness. They shall rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and over the animals, the whole earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”” (Beraishis 1:26) To whom was G-d speaking to when He said: “Let us make man”? The Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b) explains that G-d was addressing the angels: “Rav Yehuda says that Rav

This Shabbos we read Sefer Koheles, which is attributed to Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon). A key verse in the book is cited in a Mishnah in Kiddushin (1:10): Anyone that is engaged in Scripture, Mishnah and Derech Eretz will not easily sin, as it says: “A rope with three threads is not easily broken.” (Koheles 4:12). What is the connection between the first statement, that anyone who is engaged in Scripture, Mishnah and Derech Eretz will not easily sin, and the verse from K

The Torah tells us (Devarim 32:46–47): “…Instruct your children to be careful to perform all the words of this Torah, for it is not an empty thing for you; it is your life, and through this matter you shall prolong your days on the Land.” Rashi explains that Moshe here is teaching that no verse in the Torah is “empty.” Even when a passage appears insignificant, if one studies it deeply, its hidden meaning will reveal great wisdom and reward. As an example, Rashi cites the ve

On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the Book of Yonah. Hashem commands the prophet: “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it, for their evil has come before Me.” (Yonah 1:2) Yet instead of obeying, Yonah fled in the opposite direction, boarding a ship bound for Tarshish. A raging storm threatened the vessel, and at Yonah’s own request he was cast into the sea. There, through Hashem’s miraculous intervention, a great fish swallowed him whole. Remarkably, Yonah rema

This week’s parsha introduces the 613 th , final mitzvah of the Torah: Hakhel (some count it as the 612th): “ Moshe commanded them, saying: ‘At the end of seven years, at the conclusion of the Sabbatical year, during the festival of Succos, when all Israel comes to appear before Hashem your God in the place that He will choose, you shall read this Torah before all Israel in their ears. Gather together the people—the men, the women, and the small children, and the stranger i

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, the Torah speaks to us about teshuvah , the process of returning to Hashem: “It will be that when all...

This week’s parsha describes a dramatic ceremony the Jewish people were to perform upon entering the Land of Israel. Six tribes would ascend Har Gerizim, and six would ascend Har Eival. From the valley below, the Kohanim and Levi’im would proclaim a series of blessings and curses. Each time they faced Har Gerizim, they declared a blessing, and the people responded “Amen.” Then they turned to Har Eival and proclaimed the corresponding curse, and again the people answered “Amen