Divrei Torah

There's a strange Rashi for this week's parsha that has always left me bewildered. That is, it did until around four years ago. I experienced something then that truly made me understand the commentary on a personal level, and I’d like to share my experience with you today...

I get to learn most of Shemini every year with my eighth-grade Chumash talmidim, and I have felt really torn on choosing just one idea to discuss with them this year. Ultimately, I've decided that I'll answer a question that I ask my talmidim every year to answer on a test, but to which I have never actually shared my own response. The...

Many people have asked how we can celebrate Purim when we are still in the midst of a war and continue to mourn for the events of this past Shemini Atzeret. Perhaps the answer can be found in understanding a connection between Shemini Atzeret and Purim. Shemini Atzeret is...

The rapid approach of April reminds us that tax season is already upon us. Now is the time for taxpayers to make an accounting of all of our finances over the past year. We will get another reminder of the importance of keeping accurate financial records this Shabbat when we read Parshat Pekudei. This...

In the first pasuk of the parsha, we see Moshe gathering bnei Yisrael together in order to teach them about the Mishkan:

וַיַּקְהֵ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֶֽת־כׇּל־עֲדַ֛ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה ה' לַעֲשֹׂ֥ת אֹתָֽם׃

Moshe then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that Hashem...