This week’s Torah Parsha (V’ZOTHABRACHA) is the final reading in the last of the five books of the Torah (DEUTERONOMY). The Parsha begins with Moses blessing each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Echoing Jacob’s blessings to his twelve sons, five generations earlier, Moses assigns and empowers each tribe with its individual role within the […]

It is no coincidence that this week’s Torah Parsha (HAAZINU) is read on the Shabbat following the ‘Ten Days of Repentance’. Following Yom Kippur, when we are all experiencing a heightened spiritual sensitivity, we read Moses’ final speech to the ‘Children of Israel’. The greater part of Parsha (HAAZINU) is comprised of a seventy line […]

By Joy Scott, Congregant This week’s Torah Parsha (VAYELECH) is both heartrending, as well as being inspirational. It begins with Moses speaking the following words to the Children of Israel: “Today, I am one hundred and twenty years old; and, the Lord has told me that I will not cross the Jordan with you, to […]

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah After hearing the list of the 98 terrifying curses, at the end of last week’s Torah Parsha (KI TAVO), the people were devastated, and questioned whether they could possibly withstand such frightful punishments. Moses responded with the opening statement of Parsha (NITZAVIM): “You are all still standing this day before […]

By Joy Scott, Congregant   Poised to enter the ‘Promised Land’, in Parsha (KI TAVO), Moses describes exactly what will transpire when the Children of Israel reach their destination: “When you come to the land, which the Lord, your God, gives you as an inheritance, you will possess it and settle it” (1). The people […]

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant This week’s Torah Parsha (KI TEITZEI) transpires when the Children of Israel are at the brink of embarking on war with hostile nations, as they journey to the ‘Promised Land’. The Parsha comprises seventy-four of the Torah’s six hundred and thirteen commandments; including marital issues; release of slaves; returning […]

By Joy Scott In previous Parshiot in the Book of DEUTERONOMY, we learned how God began preparing for the establishment of a new nation in the ‘Promised Land’. Equal portions of the land were allotted, according to the population of each of the tribes. Last week’s Torah Parsha (RE’EH) emphasized the importance of ‘tzedakah’ (charity), […]

“See, I am setting before you today the blessing and the curse: the blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your GOD, which I am giving to you today; the curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your GOD” (1). These are the first words of Moses’ monologue to the Children […]