Jewish Art – The Positive and Halachic Care

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: #158 – part II

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: #158 – part II

The Messiah Will Teach us How to Speak

Healing the Trauma of Loss

The First Ambassadress

What exactly Is a “Chok?

The Torah of Aaron

Law and Commandments

The Torah reading of this week deals with the Red Heifer which is characterized as being a commandment beyond the ken of human understanding and rational interpretation.

There Are No Shortcuts

The connection between this week's Haftarah reading (from the Books of the Prophets) and the Torah portion of Hukat is very clear. In both of them we read how the Emorite king, Sichon, refused to allow Israel to pass through his land on our way to the Promised Land – paving the way for Israel to defeat him in battle...

Faith and Trust in G-d's Plan Is Happiness

The common denominator between Moshe's anger at Israel and his hitting of the rock for its water

Anger Management

“Is this the Torah and this its reward?” we are tempted to say. What was Moses’ sin that it merited such punishment?

What Happened in Meidva?

Our parasha, in its poetic part, describing the geopolitical situation, mentions a city called Meidva as a central city in the Moavite region of Transjordan. Surprisingly, though, in Divrei Hayamim, Meidva is described as a city of Amon, not Moav. Let us explain what might have happened.

Complete Faith Brings Happiness

G-d instructed Moshe and Aharon to speak to the boulder and extract from it water. At this point, Moshe speaks very sharply to Israel, calling them "rebels," and then strikes the boulder. Some commentators said that what Moshe did wrong (I don't like saying that Moshe "sinned") is that he spoke in anger to Israel, and others say that he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. The Maharal of Prague explains that these two things are one: Because Moshe got angry, therefore he hit the boulder instead of speaking to it. "Anger" means a lack of happiness, a lack of emuna and trust in G-d. The Maharal says that joy and faith in G-d always come together.

Moshe's Sin

The retribution for this sin seems to be far too harsh, especially when we consider the decades of service, sacrifice and loyalty that Moshe previously exhibited in his relationship with the Almighty.

Miriam, Moses’ Friend

The commentators disagree as to which aspect of Moses’ behaviour was wrong: His anger? His act of striking the rock instead of speaking to it? The implication that it was he who was bringing water from the rock?

Where Is Ahron Buried?

Torat Ahron and the Art of Arguing

As long as Ahron was alive, the Clouds of Glory protected us like an invisible shield. But with his death, the clouds dissipated & we were vulnerable to attack. There is a timely lesson being presented to us here.

The Tumah of Utensils

How are slingshots like Tefillin? What is the difference between a sack and a sock? How is an earthenware oven different from other earthenware utensils?

Holy Talk is Not Cheap

why did Moshe not merit to enter Eretz Yisrael? Considering that the Torah says the reason is Moshe’s misstep by hitting the rock to have its waters flow, another way to present the question is: what was so bad about hitting the rock?

Chukat

Things Are Looking Up!