This week’s parsha features the Aseres HaDibros , popularly known as the Ten Commandments. The Torah describes the tenth one: “You shall not covet (לא תחמוד ) your fellow’s house. You shall not covet (לא תחמוד) your fellow’s wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey nor anything that belongs to your fellow.” (Shemos 20:14). The tenth commandment in Sefer Devarim is slightly different: “And you shall not covet (לא תחמוד) your fellow’s wife, you shall not desire

The Torah tells us that after crossing the Red Sea, the Jews at Mara received their first instructions in the desert. The Torah says that “there He established a decree and an ordinance." (Shemos 15:25). The commentators offer many different explanations for what this “decree” and “ordinance” were. Rashi says that the Bnai Yisroel were given sections of the Torah detailing fundamental commandments: the mitzvos of Shabbos, regular laws, and the laws of the Red Heifer. Rashi u

At the end of the parsha, as the Jews are leaving Egypt, G-d introduces the mitzvah of tefillin: “It shall be a sign upon your arm (ידכה) and an ornament between your eyes, for with a strong hand Hashem removed us from Egypt.” (Shemos 13:16). On which hand should the tefillin be placed? One might think that the tefillin should always be placed on the left arm, because that would make the tefillin opposite the heart. However, the Talmud (Menachos 37a) learns that because the T

The Torah says (Shemos 6:13), “G-d spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them ( ויצום ) regarding the Children of Israel and regarding...

As part of Pharaoh’s ongoing campaign to subjugate the Jews, “the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives: … ‘When you deliver the Hebrew women, and you see them on the birthstool; if it is a son, you are to kill him, and if it is a daughter, she shall live.’” (Shemos 1:15-16). The Talmud (Sotah 11b) understands that Pharaoh revealed to the midwives how to determine the gender of the child before the child was born by looking at its position in the womb just before birth. T

At the end of Sefer Beraishis, Yaakov offers his final words to each of his children, reflecting on their characteristics and their...

In this week’s parsha, Yosef finally revealed to his brothers that he was the Viceroy of Egypt. The brothers were taken aback, and were...

The beginning of the parsha tells us an astonishing story. Because no one was able to satisfy Pharaoh with an interpretation of his...

The Torah tells us that Yosef resisted the entreaties of Potifar’s wife, who desired to commit adultery with Yosef. Unable to seduce...

Before Yaakov met Esav after twenty years, Yaakov sent Esav an immense gift of livestock (see Beraishis 32:14-22). When they finally met,...