Jerusalem Lights

Parashat B'reishith With the conclusion of the festivals of Tishrei, this week we begin the weekly cycle of Torah readings at the beginning again, with the first portion of B’reishith, the Book of Genesis. What a Divine Big Bang! What an amazing, all-inclusive, expansive Torah portion. Here are all the most profound secrets of life. Hashem created the world from nothing, all for His love of man an...

After the cleansing catharsis of Yom Kippur, we are commanded to joyfully begin the New Year outside the house…by spending a week in the intimate, Divine embrace of our sukkah, the temporary structure that commemorates the booths erected by the Children of Israel when they departed Egypt, as well as the Divine clouds of glory that enveloped them throughout their desert wanderings. The Festival of...

Yom Kippur Insights: How Does Torah Define Sin, and What Makes Repentance Real? In this week’s Torah portion of Ha’azinu, Moshe calls upon heaven and earth to bear witness, as he delivers his prophetic song of rebuke, consolation, and ultimate redemption. And Yom Kippur, the awesome Day of Atonement will be observed beginning this coming Wednesday night – September 15-16. May non-Jews also partici...

The Universal Message of Rosh HaShana Unites Jews and Gentiles      The themes of this week's Torah portion of Nitzavim help to prepare us for our passage into the coming new year -- just as the portion of Nitzavim opens with the awesome scene of the entire nation of Israel preparing to 'pass into' the covenant with G-d and into the Land. Our portion feature so many foundationa...

Parashat KiTavo / Offering the First Fruits of Our Lives: Everything I Have is Yours   This week’s Torah portion of Ki Tavo, ‘When you enter,’ seems to be one of extreme, even diametric contrasts. It opens with the quintessential experience of unparalleled joy and ebullient thankfulness – the ceremony of bringing the first fruit offering to the Holy Temple. Yet this very portion also features...

Parashat Ki Teitze The Torah portion of Ki Teitzei opens and closes with the theme of battle, and in between, it features more commandments than any other portion – 74 in all. How do we understand the purpose of these commandments in our lives?  It’s Elul, and our world is in a state of chaos and bewilderment…perfect timing! So many people are fearful, and unsure of the future, as we witness...

Parashat Shoftim: ‘You shall be Wholehearted with Hashem your G-d:’ Don’t be Afraid of Tomorrow       The beloved month of Elul has arrived! Elul is the last month of the year and in preparation for the upcoming Days of Awe, these are days of special Divine mercy, designed for repentance and deep spiritual work. Elul stands for ‘I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me,’ and...

Parashat Re'eh This week’s Torah portion of Parashat Re’eh (‘See’) presents a call for the Children of Israel to become a just, sensitive society in the land promised to the forefathers, always to remain focused on the presence of G-d in their midst. The whole Torah is about developing a heightened sensitivity to ‘avodat Hashem’ …serving G-d through everything that we do. And in our Torah portion...

Parashat Eikev - 'The Eyes of Hashem, your G-d, are always upon it...' - Deut. 11:12   The Torah portion of Eikev takes its name from the Hebrew word for ‘heel,’ and this week’s Torah portion begins with an allusion to those commandments that people tend to be less mindful of…perhaps considering them to be of less importance. But how do we know what’s really more, or less, important in G-d’s...

Parashat Va'Etchanan - Ben and Jerry’s, BDS, and the Myth of ‘Occupied Palestinian Lands’:  It’s Not About Ice Cream     This week’s Torah portion of Va’Etchanan features many fundamental Torah teachings, including the Shema Yisrael and the Ten Commandments. This Shabbat is also ‘the Sabbath of Consolation,’ and coincides with the ancient holiday of Tu B’Av – the 15th of Av, a...

Parashat Devarim - How Can We Stop the Cycle of Tisha B’Av Mourning?   This week we begin to read the book of Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Torah, called ‘Devarim’ in Hebrew. Devarim means words, and this book presents the parting words of Moses to the people of Israel. The man of G-d who had been described in the book of Exodus as ‘not a man of words…heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue’...

Parashat Matot-Masei In this week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast, Rabbi Chaim Richman reports about the attempted terror arson attack which took place against his community this past week, and shares his personal pain and insights regarding the heroes who truly risk their lives every day for the sake of the Land of Israel, and the twisted way in which the media portrays them.  This Shabbat is Ros...

Parashat Pinchas  The namesake of this week's Torah portion is Pinchas, a grandson of the High Priest, Aaron. Pinchas suddenly emerges as a bold new leader for this new generation of the Children of Israel, readying to enter into the Promised Land. Gone is the Generation of the Desert, characterized by passivity -- Pinchas is a man of action. His bold and unprecedented strike against the hein...

This week's Torah portion of Balak focuses on the unholy alliance  between the Moabite king of that name and Bilaam, the infamous heathen  prophet. In addition to being a great philosopher and humanitarian,  Bilaam is an accomplished sorcerer endowed with a unique quality -- his  curses always come true. Balak hires Bilaam to curse the Children of  Israel, to prevent them...

This week’s Torah portion of Chukat begins with the ordinance of the Red Heifer, a Divine decree considered to be the Torah’s most inscrutable mystery. This commandment is a ‘chok,’ meaning a decree that is incomprehensible to human intellect. Even the wise King Solomon could not understand the concept of the Red Heifer…yet Moses alone did understand its secret. This week’s Jerusalem Lights podcas...

Parashat Korach The man Korach, for whom this week’s Torah portion is named, led a rebellion against the authority of Moses and Aaron…as camouflage for his true intent, which was nothing less than a mutiny against G-d Himself…a denial of His existence. His power-hungry, ego-driven rebellion couldn’t conceal his real motivation, though…and ultimately, the earth concealed him, as he and his cohorts...

This week’s Torah portion of Shelach begins a turning point in history. The spies returned from their mission of scouting out the Land, and ten of them delivered an evil and false report which slandered the ‘precious land’ (Ps. 106:24) that The Al-mighty had promised to the Children of Israel. What caused this crises of faith? Whatever it was, the act of speaking against the Land set into motion a...

Parashat Behalotcha   This week’s Torah portion of Behalotcha focuses on the enigmatic Generation of the Desert, providing a snapshot of their ups and downs as they traverse through the wilderness, making camp and breaking camp to travel further according to Divine signals. Fast forward to today, as we too traverse through the wilderness of this world…our Jerusalem Lights podcast examines and...

This week’s Jerusalem Lights Podcast once again focuses on Israel’s defensive war, ‘Guardian of the Walls,' now in its second week. Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror organization that rules Gaza and oppresses its own people, has bombarded Israel with 4,000 missiles, shooting hundreds of missiles each day.  This onslaught continues to be augmented by terrorists of Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah of...

Parashat Bamidbar This week, Israel defends itself from an unprecedented barrage of missiles launched from Gaza. Over 1,000 missiles were fired at Israel just in the days leading up to this broadcast, between May 10 -12, resulting in loss of life and extensive damage, and sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis to bomb shelters. At the same time, mobs of local Arabs are rioting in numerous Israe...

Facing Tragedy with the Silence of Aaron   This week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast focuses on our hosts' struggle to understand the tragedy of Mount Meron. Though we still reel from the unbearable pain of the loss of life, Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman reflect on the eternal nature of Israel’s unity: the entire nation shares the pain of every bereaved family. What is the source of this unique...

This week’s Torah portion of Emor begins with a whisper to the kohanim, the priests who serve in the Holy Temple, instructing them to refrain from exposure to death. What is the reason for the unique rules that govern the lives of those Divinely-appointed men who serve in the Holy Temple? In this week’s edition of the Jerusalem Lights podcast, our hosts engage in an elucidating discussion on the T...

The Holiness of Being Connected to This World     This week’s double Torah portions of Acharei Mot – Kedoshim features G-d’s calling to Israel, ‘You shall be holy, for I, Hashem your G-d, am holy’ (Lev. 19). What does that mean? How can people be holy in this world, and what is a life of holiness? Is this elusive concept a mystical idea, or can it be translated into everyday, practi...

Understanding the Unique Language of the Book of Leviticus:  At 73, Israel’s Prophetic Message for the World This week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast, recorded on the eve of Israel Independence Day, celebrates Israel’s 73 birthday! Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman share their perspectives and give their personal thanks to G-d for the State of Israel, recount the miracles of its rebirth, contempla...

Parashat Shemini: The Transcendent Power of Keeping Kosher The tragic and untimely death of Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu appears in this week’s Torah portion of Shemini. How are we to understand the ‘strange fire’ that these righteous men brought as an offering on the special day of the tabernacle’s inauguration? This week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast finds our hosts pondering this questio...