The parsha opens with a census, an act that seems administrative on the surface, yet I find is profoundly therapeutic in its essence. The Torah is inviting us to examine our core beliefs that shape ...

The great Maya Angelou once wrote, “we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.” But are we? Are our similarities strong enough to bridge the distance we often feel from our fellow man? On a ...

After the plague of hail, it seems Pharoah is close to giving in to Moses’ demands. A threat of an eighth plague, that of locusts, leads Pharoah’s courtiers to beg him to let at least the male ...

which appears close to the beginning of Parshat Shoftim (Devarim 16:20). Through repeating the word ‘tzedek’, the Torah here wishes to highlight how important justice is. We should go to the ends of ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

So much of Torah is metaphor. Indeed, if we read this classic Jewish text only according to its plane meaning we miss the greater truths and the richer opportunities for understanding and ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

For as long as a single hostage, alive or dead, remains in Gaza, the Jewish people will be incomplete. We learn this from the Parsha of Shoftim in which Hashem tells us “Tamim tihiyeh im Hashem ...

There are three deferments allowed soldiers going into battle according to this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim (see Deuteronomy 20:5-8). If a person has built a new house and not yet dedicated it, ...