• Beyond the Familiar: The Call to Expand Our Horizons

    In this past week’s parsha, Balak, the Torah surprises us.   The normal scene completely switches and focuses not on the Jewish people but instead on prophets of other nations who have a relationship with God but who have not heard of the Jewish people.  For these people, the Jewish people are but a curiosity…

  • The Journey That Shaped a Nation

    In the second of this week’s Torah portions, Masei, the Torah writes, “These were the travels of the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt, according to their hosts, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.  Moses wrote down the starting points of their various marches according to their travels, as directed by…

  • Vows, Leadership, and the Road to the Land

    In this week’s Parsha, Matos-Masei, the Jewish people stand on the bank of the Jordan river.  They have engaged in battle with the nations on the eastern side of that river, have survived the spiritual onslaught of the Moabites in last week’s parsha, and now they are poised to enter the land.   In these…

  • Nostalgia and the Value of Today

    This week’s second torah portion opens with Moshe reviewing all of the 42 stops that the Jewish people made in the desert over their 40 year trek from Egypt to Israel.  We know where they have been, why recount them?  Remembering the past is a familiar feeling to us.  It can come with regret or…

  • The Intersection of War, Community, and Personal Needs

    In the second of this week’s two Torah portions, Ma’asey, the Jewish people stand on the banks of the Jordan River poised to enter the Land of Israel.  They are commanded to make war with the people they will encounter there and to, “Drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy…

  • Balancing the Needs of the Community and the Individual

    In this week’s Torah portion, the Jewish people stand on the banks of the Jordan River poised to enter the Land of Israel.  They are commanded to make war with the people they will encounter there and to, “drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their molten images, and…