The Most Difficult Command
Of all the commandments which are enjoined upon us, the Sages consider the commandment to kivvud av v'em , honor your father and your mother, to be the most difficult to fulfill and to fulfill properly.   In fact, according to some of our Sages, the command...

For G-d so Loved the World
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When any one of you brings an offering to the L-RD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock -- of the herd and of the flock. (Leviticus 1:2)  We have no word in Western languages that adequately con...

Perfection Through Suffering
"In the days of Ahasuerus," when the monarchy of Persia and Media began its peaceful development, those Jews who remained in the territory of Persia and Medea were to learn what they might expect if they assimilated into the life of such an alien nation.  A...

Afflicted and Oppressed
There are two very distinct lines of prophecy in the Scriptures concerning the Messiah which pose an interesting dilemma.  One line of prophecy portrays the Messiah as a humble and suffering servant, while the other line of prophecy depicts Him as a conquer...

Till Death Do Us Part
" Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his
wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' "But I say to you that
whoever divorces his wife for any reason except fornication (greek:
pornea - premarital loss of virginity) causes her to commit ad...

Till Death do us Part
" Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who i...

A Light Shining in a Dark Place
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,...

The Ingrate and the Heretic
Our Sages teach: Why does the Torah exact such retribution from ingrates?   Because ingratitude is a semblance of the denial of G-d.  And one who denies belief in Hashem is, in essence, an ingrate.  A person who denies the good that his friend has done for ...

The Descent of the Divine Glory
The descent of G-d's glory to earth was debated among the Sages.  Curiously, the Sages who believed that Moses ascended to heaven also taught that G-d descended to earth.  In the eschatology of I Enoch, great significance was attached to G-d's descent on Mo...

Whose Fault Divorce?
Some have pointed out the seemingly one-sided nature of
the power in biblical divorce proceedings, placing the ability to divorce only
in the hands of the husband, leaving wives without biblical recourse to
divorce.   Let me put that notion to
rest:   It is...

Re-post . . .
Some may have noticed the deletion of my last post.  I was re-thinking some of the premises which led me to do some
more research and consulting with colleagues and realized that my line
of thinking was not entirely correct on a number of points.  You're ...

Immanu'el ('G-d with Us')
There were a number of Sages who had pinned their hopes on Solomon as the fulfillment of the promises stated in Nathan's prophecy.  This was not to be.  Solomon soon departed from the ways of Hashem, marrying foreign wives, building altars and high places t...