Dvarim

This short little five-word phrase – “You should be tamim with Hashem your G-d” - is one of the most powerful and profound p’sukim in the Torah. But - what does “Tamim” mean?

The parsha of Shoftim is the classic source of the three types of leadership in Judaism, called by the Sages the “three crowns”: of priesthood, kingship and Torah.

The first commandment addressed to the Jewish king is: “Just he should not acquire for himself many horses, and he should not return the nation to Egypt to acquire many horses" . The commentators have explanations of the connection between the prohibition on horses and the matter of not going to Egypt.

An oft-asked question is why the first pasuk in our Sedra of Re'eh seems to have a grammatical mistake: The word Re'eh ("see") is singular, while the complimentary word lifneychem ("before you") is plural! It ought to read either, R'u lifnechem, or Re'eh l'fanecha! What gives?

Parshas Re’eih includes the commandment that instructs us how to prepare our meat for our table.

One of the gifts of great leaders, and one from which each of us can learn, is that they frame reality for the group. That is one of their most magisterial roles, and no one did it more powerfully than did Moses in the book of Deuteronomy.

The Torah presents us with the most basic choice that we can make – the stark choice between eternal life and death itself. Surprisingly e are witness to the fact that many times human beings make choices that are anti-life.

The Coronavirus pandemic is certainly a health issue; it is important to avoid contracting or transmitting it, which are Torah obligations. But the period has been challenging for us in two other ways. The Financial crisis and the social crisis.