“…These shall be for you a statute of justice for all your generations, in all your dwelling places…” – Bamidbar 35:29 וְהָיוּ אֵלֶּה לָכֶם לְחֻקַּת מִשְׁפָּט לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם בְּכֹל מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם – במדבר לה, כט A person who accidentally caused someone’s death would be exiled by the court to one of the six Cities of Refuge where he would be safe from […]

“…You shall not have other gods…” – Shemos 20:3 לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹקִים אֲחֵרִים – שמות כ, ג The Talmud (Shabbos 88b) relates that the angels protested G-d giving the Torah to Bnei Yisrael, insisting that G-d’s wisdom must not be shared with mortals of flesh and blood. In response, Moshe demonstrated that only humans could fulfill the Torah’s commands, […]

“…The kohen shall order that they clear out the house before the kohen comes to look at the lesion, so that everything in the house should not become unclean…” – Vayikra 14:36 וְצִוָּה הַכֹּהֵן וּפִנּוּ אֶת הַבַּיִת בְּטֶרֶם יָבֹא הַכֹּהֵן לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַנֶּגַע וְלֹא יִטְמָא כָּל אֲשֶׁר בַּבָּיִת – ויקרא יד, לו A house plagued with tzora’as remains pure and […]

“…But on the day that live flesh is seen in it, he shall become unclean…” – Vayikra 13:14 וּבְיוֹם הֵרָאוֹת בּוֹ בָּשָׂר חַי יִטְמָא – ויקרא יג, יד A person afflicted with tzora’as must be examined by a kohen to determine if his lesions indeed bear the signs of impurity. The Talmud notes that only certain days are valid for […]

“…If the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, our children, and our children’s children would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt…” – The Haggadah וְאִלּוּ לֹא הוֹצִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם, הֲרֵי אָנוּ וּבָנֵינוּ וּבְנֵי בָנֵינוּ מְשֻׁעְבָּדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם – הגדה של פסח We acknowledge in the […]

“…And Moshe spoke to the entire community of Bnei Yisrael, saying: This is the word that G-d has commanded…” – Shemot 35:4 וַיֹּאמֶר משֶׁה אֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה’ – שמות לה, ד The Torah’s wording is concise, even cryptic at times, such that an extra word or even letter is a cause for […]

“…And Mordechai told him all that had befallen him…” Esther 4:7 וַיַּגֶּד לוֹ מָרְדֳּכַי אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר קָרָהוּ – אסתר ד, ז Mordechai occupied an important position in Achashveirosh’s government (see Esther 2:19, “and Mordechai sat at the king’s gate.”) In addition, his cousin (or niece, see Targum,) was Achashveirosh’s queen. Presumably, even if Haman’s decree did come to pass […]

“….Speak to Bnei Yisrael and have a contribution taken for Me….” – Shemot 25:2 דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ לִי תְּרוּמָה – שמות כה, ב According to one opinion in the Zohar (vol. 2 p. 224a), G-d’s command that the Mishkan be built, as well as the collection of materials for its construction, took place immediately after the Giving of […]

“….I am Hashem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt…” – Shemot 20:2 אָנֹכִי ה’ אֱלֹקֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם  – שמות כ, ב Our Sages teach that the Ten Commandments that the Jewish nation heard at Mt. Sinai represent the sum total of the entire Torah; all 613 mitzvos are incorporated within these ten. Taking […]

You shall tell your son on that day, saying, “It is for this sake that G-d acted on my behalf when I went out of Egypt.” – Shemot 13:8 וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם – שמות יג, ח The Torah tells us that in all generations one must relate to his children “that […]

“….And behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field….” – Bereishit 37:7 ״…והנה אנחנו מאלמים אלומים בתוך השדה…״ – בראשית לז, ז Yosef and Pharaoh both had dreams involving grain, but the contexts in which they each saw the grain could not be more dissimilar. In Yosef’s dream, he saw himself and his brothers binding sheaves of […]

“….And Shem and Yefes took the garment, and placed it on both of their shoulders. They walked backwards, and they covered their father’s nakedness. their faces were turned backwards and they did not see their father’s nakedness…..” (Bereishit 9:23)  ״…ויקח שם ויפת את השמלה וישימו על שכם שניהם וילכו אחורנית ויכסו את ערות אביהם ופניהם אחורנית ןערות אביהם לא ראו….״ […]

“….He shall wear a holy linen shirt and linen pants shall be upon his flesh, and he shall grid himself with a linen sash and wear a linen cap…..” (Yom Kippur Torah reading, Vayikra 16:4) ״….כתנת בד קדש ילבש ומכנסי בד יהיו על בשרו ובאבנט בד יחגור ובמצנפת בד יצנוף…..״ – קריאת התורה ליום הכיפורים, ויקרא טז,ד On all but […]

“….Seek G-od when he is found, Call him when he is near……” (Yeshayahu 55:6) ״….דרשו ה׳ בהמצאו קראהו בהיותו קרוב….״ – ישעיהו נה׳, ו׳ This verse refers to the ten days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur. —Talmud, Rosh Hashana 18a The two phrases in this verse represent two areas and modes of teshuva that are evoked by the nearness […]

“…Whether it was for two days, a month or a year, that the cloud lingered to hover over the Mishkan, the children of Israel would encamp and not travel, and when it departed, they traveled…” – Bamidbar 9:22 אוֹ יֹמַיִם אוֹ חֹדֶשׁ אוֹ יָמִים בְּהַאֲרִיךְ הֶעָנָן עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן לִשְׁכֹּן עָלָיו יַחֲנוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא יִסָּעוּ וּבְהֵעָלֹתוֹ יִסָּעוּ – במדבר ט, […]