Parasha

Parashat Chayei Sarah: Politics, power, perils of ambition

Politics, the haftarah reminds us, is not inherently corrupt. It becomes corrupt when it forgets that leadership is service, not self-promotion.

 SCRIBES FINISH writing a Torah scroll.
PATIENCE REQUIRED...

Parashat Chayei Sara: ‘Ger v’toshav’ – unfinished belonging 

A LAMP burned continuously – symbolizing unceasing light and joy.

Parashat Chayei Sarah: All are equally good

JEWS STAND at the Abraham’s tomb monument in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

Hebron and Gaza: Ishmael's descendants fight relentlessly against the Jews - opinion


Parashat Vayera: Faith is stronger than reality

Can faith prevail over reason and reality? Scripture’s answer is clear. What seems impossible to man is never beyond the power of God.

Elisha Raising the Son of the Shunamite, by Frederic Leighton, 1881, oil on canvas - Leighton House Museum - London, England.

Parashat Lech Lecha: The call of aliyah

From Yemenite Jews in Operation Magic Carpet to Soviet refuseniks, Ethiopian families, and Bnei Menashe from India, Isaiah’s vision has been realized in our own time.

An illustrative image of Jews making aliyah to Israel.

Parashat Lech Lecha: From Everyman to hero

The Torah presents Abraham not as a spiritual giant chosen by default but as Everyman. He is not depicted as a polished hero with prior accomplishments but as an ordinary person.

An illustrative image of God calling on Abraham to leave his country to the Promised Land.

Parashat Lech Lecha: Hagar and the God who sees

The story of Hagar reminds us that sovereignty brings with it responsibility – to see, to hear, and to act with compassion toward those who remain vulnerable in our midst.

Artistic impression of Abraham sending Hagar and her son off.

Parashat Lech Lecha: Abraham and Lot's remarkable journey

Even the loftiest goal on Earth must never be achieved through harming or insulting another person.

An illustrative image of Abraham and Lot separating.

Parashat Noah: Olive leaf from paradise

Even now, our hearts beat together with those of the heroes and freed hostages, who for two years suffered in the tunnels of darkness and the shadow of death.

Olive tree

Message of Isaiah in Parashat Noah: Expanding Israel's borders a vision of redemption after exile

Just as Noah emerged from the ark to rebuild civilization, Israel emerges from centuries of dispersion to rebuild its land and infuse it with holiness.

IDF troops raise the Israeli flag in Gaza.

Parashat Noah: The gift and the duty

Miracles should serve as wells of faith for the future. Before we begin our daily prayers, we recall past miracles and past redemptions.

An illustrative image of shopping at a supermarket.

The Women’s Parsha Slam: Giving women a voice on Simchat Torah

Perhaps my favorite part of the Parsha Slam is knowing that beyond the event itself, women who never saw themselves as Torah teachers or public speakers take the mic and share.

Yehudis Schamroth at the First Annual Parsha Slam in Ramat Beit Shemesh.

Parashat Bereshit: The Israeli hostages and the Haftorah

The images of young men starved and tortured in propaganda videos released by their evil Hamas captors seared the conscience of our people.

Family members of released hostages hold a press conference at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center - Ichilov, on October 14, 2025.

Parashat Bereshit: The lesson of Cain

A person who lives wrongly not only harms himself but also those around him.

Illustrative image of Cain and Abel.