Insights on the Parsha & Mo'adim - From Joshua Moshe Mitchell

This week we read פרשת נצבים-וילך, where, after discussing the blessing and curses that come with the nation’s actions, Moshe continues to explain the consequences of the ברית that will be made on הר גזרים. There we encounter a strange verse: “הנסתרת לה’ אלקינו והנגלת לׄנׄוׄ וׄלׄבׄנׄיׄנׄוׄ עׄד עולם לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת - The hidden things belong to HaShem, our G-d, and the revealed things a...

This week we continue reading ספר דברים, now reaching פרשת כי תבוא, a Parsha in which Moshe gives some of the strongest תוכחה, rebuke, seen in the Torah. The descriptions of these curses are heart-melting, and in many verses gut-wrenching at how they foretell history. At the beginning of this passage, Moshe tells us the curses will come from a lack of proper harkening to HaShem’s word and observan...

This week we read פרשת כי תצא, which opens by describing what might happen when בני ישראל go out to war. There the Torah describes how if a man at war sees a beautiful woman and desires her, he can “take her” and have relations with her once. However, if he wants her as a wife, she must be taken into his home, shave her head, cut her nails, change out of her clothing of captivity, and be given a m...

This week we read פרשת שופטים, a Parsha which deals heavily with the life upcoming for בני ישראל in ארץ ישראל. One example is the Torah’s prohibition of following the practices of other nations, specifically their methods of inquiring about the future, which is called an abomination to HaShem. Instead, the Torah commands: "תמים תהיה עם ה׳ אלקיך - You shall be perfect with HaShem your G-d". However...

This week we read פרשת ראה, a Parsha in which many מצוות are commanded. Amongst them is the commandment to eradicate all of the places of עבודה זרה. Yet, immediately afterwards the Torah makes a sharp contrast: “לא־תעשון כן לה׳ אלקיכם - Don’t do the same with HaShem your G-d.” But rather: “כי אם־אל־המקום אשר־יבחר ה׳ אלקיכם מכל־שבטיכם לשום את־שמו שם לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה - Only the place that HaShem...

This week we read פרשת עקב, where when describing loving HaShem we find the phrase “בכל־לבבך ובכל־נפשך - with all of your heart and your soul”. However, this phrase is not unique to אהבת ה׳, loving G-d, for we find the same expression again in performing the מצוות and doing תשובה  - both require בכל־לבבך ובכל־נפשך. However, this only raises questions. What does בכל־לבבך ובכל־נפשך really mean? In w...

This Thursday is תשעה באב, the saddest day of the year, when we commemorate the destruction of our spiritual home, the בית המקדש. It is a day of deep mourning, a pain expressed most acutely in פרק קלז of תהלים, commonly known as על נהרות בבל. The passage begins by describing the grief of the Jewish people in exile: “על־נהרות  בבל שם ישבנו גם־בכינו בזכרנו את־ציון - On the rivers of Babylon - there...

This week we read פרשת דברים, the first פרשה in the last ספר of the ספר דברים ,חומש. In many ways, this ספר is unlike the other four that precede it. ויקרא ,שמות ,בראשית, and במדבר were all spoken by HaShem and written by Moshe, with absolute precision, down to the very letter. But דברים is different. It is spoken directly by Moshe; it is the record of the conversations that he gave the nation bef...

This week we read פרשת מטות-מסעי, where we encounter the well known request of the בני ראובן and בני גד. Seeing the great pastureland on the eastern side of the Jordan, they approached משה with a surprising request: instead of receiving their inheritance in ארץ ישראל, they wanted to inherit the east bank of the Jordan. In his response, משה blows up at them, asking: “האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה...

In this week’s Parsha, פרשת פינחס, we are presented with the second census of בני ישראל. After 40 years of wandering in the מדבר we are told that the count of the nation is 601,730. If we compare this to the previous census, 603,550, taken approximately 38 years earlier, we are struck with an immediate difficulty. So much time has passed, and a new generation has emerged from the מדבר. Naturally,...

This week we read פרשת בלק, a פרשה which opens with בלק commanding בלעם to curse בני ישראל. However, quickly בלעם declares that he can only state what HaShem puts in his mouth, and instead is forced to bless the nation despite his desire to fulfil בלק’s requests. The climax of these ברכות is expressed in “מה־טבו אהליך יעקב משכנתיך ישראל - how good are your tents, Ya’akov, your tabernacles, Yisrael...

This week we read פרשת חוקת, a פרשה best known for the פרה אדומה and the incident of מי מריבה. Yet before the episode of striking the rock, an unusual reaction takes place that demands attention. After the nation complains about the lack of water, משה and אהרן enter the אהל מועד, and the Torah states: “ויפלו על־פניהם וירא כבוד־ה׳ אליהם - they fell on their faces and saw the glory of G-d amongst th...

This week we read פרשת קרח, which records the first structured rebellion against משה. The Parsha opens with אבירם ,דתן ,קרח, and the 250 נשיא העדה, princes of the assembly, gathering before משה and אהרן. Their claim is simple: “כל־העדה כלם קדשים ובתוכם ה׳ - the entire community is holy and HaShem dwells amongst them”. If so, why should משה and אהרן stand above everyone else? משה responds by settin...

This week parsha is פרשת שלח, where משה sends the מרגלים to scout out ארץ כנען - a mission which lasts for 40 days. However, upon their return, the spies attempt to rally עם ישראל against entering ארץ כנען, claiming that its inhabitants are too strong to be defeated. Their report sparks an uprising amongst the nation, who even begin to plan a return to Egypt. In response, HaShem declares that this...

This week’s Parsha, פרשת בהעלותך is filled with excitement. The opening half of the פרשה describes עם ישראל preparing for the journey into ארץ ישראל. The לוים are inaugurated into their roles, משה invites יתרו to join them in their conquest, and HaShem details the order of the trumpets which will guide ישראל in their takeover of the promised land. The nation finally packs up and, for the first tim...

This Thursday night, we celebrate שבועות, a חג best known as being זמן מתן תורתנו. It is also one of the שלוש רגלים, one of three festivals of the year where all the men of עם ישראל were commanded to ascend to the בית המקדש to celebrate. However, when comparing שבועות to the other רגלים it seems to be alike only in the obligation of ascent. While the other רגלים each have their own unique מצוות ti...

This week we begin a new book of the Torah, ספר במדבר, starting, of course, with פרשת במדבר. We begin this פרשה with HaShem commanding Moshe to count the Jewish people, where the Torah states: “שאו את־ראש כל־עדת בני־ישראל למשפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות כל־זכר לגלגלתם - lift up the heads of all of the congregation of the children of Yisrael according to their families, by their father’s house, count...

This Shabbat we read פרשת בהר-בחוקותי, the final parsha in ספר ויקרא. Most memorable is the portion in בחוקותי which describes the ברכות and קללות that will befall on עם ישראל if they don’t heed the commandments of HaShem. At the conclusion of the curses, the Torah relates their intended impact on כלל ישראל - to humble their hearts, and to lead them to confess their sins. HaShem then states: “וזכר...

This Shabbat we read פרשת אמור, a Parsha in which the ספר החינך counts 63 מצוות being given. 46% of these relate to the מועדים, the festivals of HaShem. They are first commanded in the fourth aliyah, where HaShem states: “דבר אל־בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם מועדי ה׳ אשר־תקראו אתם מקראי קדש אלה הם מועדי - speak to the children of Yisrael and say to them: the festivals of HaShem, which you shall proclaim as...

Following last week’s double parsha, we are met with another this week - פרשת אחרי מות-קדושים. In אחרי מות, HaShem prohibits the consumption of blood, stating that He will “Set His face against” the transgressor, and that they shall be cut off from עם ישראל. The Torah explains the reason behind this restriction, stating: “כי נפש הבשר בדם הוא ואני נתתיו לכם על־המזבח לכפר על־נפשתיכם כי־הדם הוא בנפש...

This week’s Parsha is פרשת תזריע-מצורע, the second double פרשה of the year. Large portions of these פרשיות are dedicated to צרעת, a white lesion-like affliction on the body. This condition is described at the beginning of תזריע where the Torah states: “אדם כי־יהיה בעור־בשרו שאת או־ספחת או בהרת והיה בעור־בשרו לנגע צרעת והובא אל־אהרן הכהן או אל־אחד מבניו הכהנים - when a man has in the skin of his fl...

This שבת we read פרשת שמיני, the third פרשה in ספר ויקרא. This Parsha is most well known for the death of נדב and אביהוא, two sons of אהרן, who offered an uncommanded קטורת before HaShem, and as a result, were consumed by a fire from G-d. Despite this, אהרן and his remaining sons are not allowed to mourn them publicly; instead, they must continue the work in the משכן. As a part of that, משה comman...

This Wednesday night, we partake in the most unique night of the year, ליל הסדר. There, we read the הגדה, highlighted by מגיד. In רבי אלעזר בן עזריה ,מגיד states: “הרי אני כבן שבעים שנה ולא זכיתי שתאמר יציאת מצרים בלילות עד שדרשה בן זומא - I am like a 70 year old, and I haven’t merited to prove that one must speak the exodus from Egypt at night until I heard the Drasha of Ben Zuma.” This statement...

This week’s Parsha is פרשת צו, the second Parsha in ספר ויקרא, where the כהנים are commanded more about the עבודה in the מקדש. Within this פרשה, the Torah states one striking statute about the Mizbeach: “אש תמיד תוקד על־המזבח לא תכבה - A continuous fire shall burn on the altar, it shall not be extinguished.” This פסוק is perplexing and raises several questions: Firstly, what exactly is this אש תמי...

This שבת we read פרשת ויקרא, the opening Parsha of the third ספר in the חמשה חומשי תורה. Commonly referred to as תורת כהנים, much of ספר ויקרא details the עבודה of the מקדש, partically the קרבנות sacrificed there. Many קרבנות are simply referred to as an אשה לה׳ - a fire to G-d, but a select few are given the designation of an אשה ריח-ניחוח לה׳ - a pleasant-smelling fire to HaShem. In our Parsha,...