Moses

Parashat Va’era: Why being good is the secret strength we forget

Why does Moses step aside for Aaron during the first plagues? The answer reveals a profound Torah teaching about humility and gratitude.

|ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
Parsha.
The encounter at the burning bush lays the bedrock of monotheism. Illustrative.

Parashat Shemot: Learning God

The divine cannot be reduced to scientific explanation or empirical inquiry. God exists beyond the categories through which human beings normally understand reality.

|ByMOSHE TARAGIN
The numerical rise of the Israelites aroused fear in Pharaoh. Illustrative.

Parashat Shemot: The continuity of the world

The victory of the midwives over Pharaoh was the beginning of Israel’s triumph over Egypt.

|ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
MIKVEH IN Auckland, New Zealand.

Yom Kippur: The end or the beginning?

The Talmud identifies Yom Kippur as one of the two happiest days in the year (along with the 15th of Av).

|BySTEWART WEISS

Moses, a diplomatic negotiator ahead of his time

Moses’ goal is to take the people out of slavery and bring them to the land of Israel but he never states that.

JANUARY 8, 2021ByMICHAEL M. COHEN
The large tapestry in the Knesset by Marc Chagall of Moses receiving the Torah

Former MK to 'Post': Israel needs a leader like Moses - opinion

As we go through the process over the next 76 days of choosing the party we will vote for, or the person whom we want serving as prime minister, perhaps we should examine how they compare to Moses.

JANUARY 7, 2021ByDOV LIPMAN
‘MOSES WITH the Ten Commandments,’ Philippe de Champaigne, 1648: Why not read them every day?

Parashat Shemot: What makes a hero?

Moses’s personal struggles enable him to summon the strength despite his initial unwillingness.

JANUARY 7, 2021ByDAVID WOLPE
THE PARTING of the Red Sea during the Jewish nation’s escape from Egypt, an illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company

Parashat Shemot: An unglamorous leader

One of the skills a leader needs is the ability to make speeches and persuade the masses, and this was something Moses felt he could not do.

JANUARY 7, 2021ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
‘MOSES WITH the Ten Commandments,’ Philippe de Champaigne, 1648: Why not read them every day?

Is the Israeli song ‘Oof Gozal’ a subconcious midrash for Sefer Dvarim?

The song, about a chick leaving the nest, is commonly viewed as an analogy for parents’ emotions as their child leaves home, but can it also be read on a deeper level?

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020ByGOL KALEV
A SILVEREYE feeds its chicks

Parashat Ki Tavo: A successful society’s foundations

Prohibitions that ‘merit’ being cursed are all acts that damage relationships between people.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
‘A PERSON’S trust in a fair trial is similar’: Opening the trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jerusalem District Court on May 24

Parashat Re'eh: In what world are we living?

The words ‘abomination’ and ‘hates’ appear only once in the entire Torah.

AUGUST 13, 2020ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
WORSHIP DISTINCTION: Golden statue of Buddha, Thailand

Parshat Va’Ethanan: An innocent addition or destruction of a masterpiece?

Let us imagine someone taking a Rembrandt painting and adding a few of his own lines or drops of paint.

AUGUST 2, 2020ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
‘THE RETURN of the Prodigal Son,’ 1668, remembered by many as Rembrandt van Rijn’s greatest masterpiece

Kabbalah, and the logic of the impossible - Moses our rabbi

The Exodus from Egypt was a crucial event not only in the life of the Jewish people, but for the world as a whole.

JULY 28, 2020ByEDUARD SHYFRIN
THE PARTING of the Red Sea during the Jewish nation’s escape from Egypt, an illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company

Parashat Devarim: The values that give us the right to exist

The role of a judge is so sensitive and significant, there is no room for mediocrity.

JULY 23, 2020ByRABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ
Judge's gavel, illustrative