Parshas Chukat
Rabbi Berel Wein The Torah reading of this week deals with a ritual in the Temple – that of the Parah Adumah – which is characterized as being a commandment beyond the ken of human understanding and rational interpretation. It remains a primary example of certain commandments that, at their very core, are not easily […]
Parshas Korach
Rabbi Berel Wein This week’s reading describes the rebellion of Korach and other disastrous incidents that occurred to the generation that left Egypt who were destined to expire in the Desert of Sinai. After the previous debacles: the complaints against Moshe by Miriam and Aharon, the demand for food, the ingratitude towards the manna that […]
Parshas Shlach
Rabbi Berel Wein We are taught by a Mishnah in Avot that the Jewish People, as represented by the generation of the Sinai Desert, tested the L-rd 10 times. The idea of testing G-d is a difficult one to understand and appreciate. This is particularly striking when we can see that this generation did not […]
Parshas Beha’aloscha
Rav Kostelitz
Parshas Beha’aloscha
Rabbi Berel Wein One of the tasks of the kohanim in the Mishkan and the Beis Hamikdash was the rekindling of the great Menorah on a daily basis. We are taught in this week’s Torah reading that the kohen had to keep the flame, with which he was lighting the wicks of the lamps, next […]
Parshas Naso
Rabbi Berel Wein The book of Bamidbar contains many puzzling portions. In this week’s parsha, the Torah records the sacrificial offerings by the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel upon the dedication and consecration of the Tabernacle. These twelve offerings were identical in every detail. Yet, the Torah describes each of these offerings individually, […]
When You Least Expect It
Life is full of surprises, sometimes for the better but often for the worse. It can throw us for a loop and shake up all of our assumptions. Our challenge lies in how we deal effectively with sudden and unexpected events. A Nazir is one who undertakes a vow to refrain from consuming grape products, […]
Parshas Bamidbar
Rabbi Berel Wein This week’s reading as well as the entire book of Bamidbar is replete with the numbers of the populations of the Jewish people in the desert of Sinai. Slightly more than 600,000 male Jews over the age of twenty comprise the population of the Jewish people under the leadership of Moshe. Extrapolating […]
Bechukosai
Rav Kostelitz
Parshas Bechukosei
Rabbi Berel Wein This week’s Torah reading marks the end of the book of Vayikra. This, the third book of the Torah, is replete with laws, commandments, and descriptions of Temple services. It is also the book that contains the fundamental principles of human relationships, as envisioned by the Torah and Jewish tradition. It is […]
