The Sidra Ekev begins in the middle of chapter 7. It is a continuation of Moses epic address which he began in the previous Sidra of Va’etchannan. The basic theme of chapter 7 is about the conquest of the land from the seven nations who occupied it before the Israelites came. The last verses […]
The Sidra of Shoftim is devoted to the establishment of an Israelite state. It contains a large number of Mitzvot, 73 in total. Many of those Mitzvot are major laws regarding setting up the government of the country. The Sidra begins with the appointment of judges and officers who were charged with making sure […]
The Sidra of Re’eh opens with the contrasting sharp choices which the Almighty offered to Israel. He said that he was giving them the blessing and the curse. He commanded them to choose the blessing. The blessing was symbolically allocated to Mount Gerizim and the curse was allocated to Mount Eival. These mountains were situated […]
The name of this Sidra has attracted the attention of our commentators because it is open to a number of interpretations. The most straightforward, and literal meaning of the word EKEV is ‘the impression we make in the sand with our steps as we walk”. Therefore, this sentence means ‘as consequence of your obedience’. Consequently, […]
The Sidra which we read this morning is arguably the most important and beautiful portion of the year. It contains the 10 Commandments and the first paragraph of the Shema, as well as some other notable statements and commandments. It is part of Moses’ farewell speech to the Israelites. He explains to the Israelites that […]
Today we begin the last book of the Torah. The Rabbis, who fixed the Sedarot, planned the order of reading very carefully, so that this Sidra always falls before Tisha Be’av. This is most appropriate, since it contains the verse which begins with the word , Eichah. This is the opening word of the Scroll […]
The Hebrew name of today’s Sidra means he went. In its number of verses, it is the shortest Sidra of the year, but it is read on its own only rarely, when Yom Kippur falls on either Wednesday or Thursday. The Sidra sets out Moses speech on the last day of his life. It is interesting […]
This week’s Sidra begins with Moses’ declaration that the Israelites were standing ready in front of the Lord in order to make another covenant with him. This covenant was made in the Land of Moab and it was a renewal of the covenant that had originally been made in Mount Chorev, another name for Mount […]
The meaning of the name of today’s Sidra is “when you come”. Moses continues his final speech by referring to the mitzvah of BIKKURIM, the First Fruit, which the Israelites were commanded to observe as soon as they entered the land. This passage is, therefore, linked to the previous commandment, mentioned in the last paragraph of the […]
The meaning of the name of this morning’s Sidra is when you go out. It continues with the subject of war, with the previous Sidra concluded. This is the reason why the Sidra begins in the middle of a chapter. The Christians, who divided the Bible into chapters, did not regard this law as the beginning […]