“You shall set up judges and law enforcement officials for yourself in all your cities…” – Devarim 16:18 שפטים ושטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך – דברים טז, יח In every city where Jews live, the Torah instructs us to set up court systems comprising judges who determine the law, and officials who enforce the judges’ rulings. In the prophecies regarding […]

You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the man a tree of the field? (Devarim 20:19) “The man a tree of the field” …If a Torah scholar is upright, you should benefit from him (alone – Tosfos) and not cut off from him. —Talmud, Taanis 7a The Talmud interprets this verse as reference to […]

שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ – דברים יז, טו “…..You shall appoint a king over you….” (Devarim 17:15) When a king is appointed, he is anointed with oil. —Rambam, Hilchos Melachim 1:7 When stating the mitzvah to appoint a king, the Torah does not mention the process of anointing the king with oil. Furthermore, Yehoshua is considered to have the Halachic […]

“…Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?…” – Bamidbar 23:10 מִי מָנָה עֲפַר יַעֲקֹב – במדבר כג, י Bilaam’s plot to curse the Jewish people was foiled when G-d forced him to bless and praise them instead. Describing the Jewish people’s endearment to G-d, Bilaam said, “Who can count the dust of Yaakov?” According to one interpretation brought by Rashi, […]

“…Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?…” – Bamidbar 23:10 מִי מָנָה עֲפַר יַעֲקֹב – במדבר כג, י Bilaam attempted to curse the Bnei Yisrael, but G-d caused him to bless them and praise them instead. Extolling Bnei Yisrael’s great merits and their endearment to G-d, Bilaam said, “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov?” According to one interpretation brought […]

“…This is the decree of Torah that G-d commanded to say. Speak to Bnei Yisrael and have them take to you, a red heifer…” – Bamidbar 19:2 זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה’ לֵאמֹר דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה – במדבר יט, ב The Torah commands us to use the ashes of a parah adumah, a red […]

“…The people came to Moshe and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against G-d and against you…” So Moshe prayed on behalf of the people…” – Bamidbar 21:7 וַיָּבֹא הָעָם אֶל משֶׁה וַיֹּאמְרוּ חָטָאנוּ כִּי דִבַּרְנוּ בַה’ וָבָךְ . . וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל משֶׁה בְּעַד הָעָם – במדבר כא, ז The Bnei Yisrael spoke against G-d and Moshe and were […]

“…They shall take to you a perfectly red heifer…” – Bamidbar 19:2 וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה תְּמִימָה – במדבר יט, ב The Rambam’s compendium of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah, is famous for its precise wording and organization. It is therefore most unusual that in the midst of a discussion on the laws of the Parah Adumah, the ashes of […]

“…They brought their offering before G-d: six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon from each two princes, and an ox from each one…” – Bamidbar 7:3 וַיָּבִיאוּ אֶת קָרְבָּנָם לִפְנֵי ה’ שֵׁשׁ עֶגְלֹת צָב וּשְׁנֵי עָשָׂר בָּקָר עֲגָלָה עַל שְׁנֵי הַנְּשִׂאִים וְשׁוֹר לְאֶחָד – במדבר ז, ג The generosity of Bnei Yisrael in their donation of materials for the […]

“…They shall confess the sin they committed…” – Bamidbar 5:7 וְהִתְוַדּוּ אֶת חַטָּאתָם אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ – במדבר ה, ז The Rambam writes in Sefer Hamitzvos: “The 73rd mitzvah is that we are commanded to verbally acknowledge the sins we have committed before G-d, exalted be He, when we repent from them… As the Torah states, ‘They shall confess the sin […]

“…Every raised-offering of all the holy things that the children of Israel bring to the kohen, it shall be his…” – Bamidbar 5:9 וְכָל תְּרוּמָה לְכָל קָדְשֵׁי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יַקְרִיבוּ לַכֹּהֵן לוֹ יִהְיֶה – במדבר ה, ט Rashi explains that this verse comes to teach us that bikkurim are given to the kohen. Elsewhere (Shemos 23:19), the Torah instructs […]

“…The families of the sons of Kehos shall camp to the south side of the Mishkan…” – Bamidbar 3:29 מִשְׁפְּחֹת בְּנֵי קְהָת יַחֲנוּ עַל יֶרֶךְ הַמִּשְׁכָּן תֵּימָנָה – במדבר ג, כט The tribe of Levi camped on all four sides of the Mishkan, and around them the other twelve tribes camped, three tribes on each side. Rashi notes that the […]

“…The Torah speaks of four children: One is wise, one is wicked, one is simple and one does not know how to ask…” – The Haggadah כְּנֶגֶד אַרְבָּעָה בָנִים דִּבְּרָה תוֹרָה: אֶחָד חָכָם. וְאֶחָד רָשָׁע. וְאֶחָד תָּם. וְאֶחָד שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ לִשְׁאוֹל – הגדה של פסח In four places, the Torah instructs us to relate the story and mitzvos of Pesach […]

“…In every generation, a person is obligated to regard himself as if he had come out of Egypt…” – The Haggadah בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָיִם – הגדה של פסח One of the most remarkable aspects of Bnei Yisrael’s exodus from Egypt is the simple trust that they had in Moshe and in […]

“…And Moshe spoke to the entire community of Bnei Israel, saying: this is the word that g-d has commanded…” –  Shemos 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; an extra word or even letter is already cause for discussion among the […]

“…And Moshe assembled the entire community of Bnei Israel…” – Shemos 35:1 וַיַּקְהֵל משֶׁה אֶת כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – שמות לה, א Moshe assembled “the entire community of Bnei Yisrael” when he announced G-d’s command to gather the materials necessary and construct the Mishkan. According to the Ohr Hachaim, the Torah’s emphasis that Moshe assembled the entire community teaches us […]

“…Speak to Bnei Yisrael and have a contribution taken for me…” – Shemos 25:2 דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ לִי תְּרוּמָה – שמות כה, ב According to one opinion in the Zohar (vol. 2 p. 224a), both the commandment to build the Mishkan, as well as Bnei Yisrael’s donation of materials for its construction, took place immediately after the Giving of […]

“…And it came to pass on the third day as morning dawned, there was thunder and lightning… and the entire nation that was in the camp shuddered…” – Shemot 19:16 וַיְהִי בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בִּהְיֹת הַבֹּקֶר וַיְהִי קֹלֹת וּבְרָקִים . . וַיֶּחֱרַד כָּל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּחֲנֶה – שמות יט, טז If to instill fear alone, the thunder and lightning storm that […]

“….And they stood at the bottom of the mountain….” – Shemot 19:17 וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ בְּתַחְתִּית הָהָר – שמות יט, יז According to the Talmud, the words “at the bottom of the mountain” mean that G-d raised Mt. Sinai over Bnei Yisrael and said to them, “If you accept the Torah, that’s great. But if not, you will be summarily buried beneath […]

“….G-d spoke all these words, to say….” – Shemot 20:1 וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹקִים אֵת כָּל הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֵאמֹר – שמות כ, א The Midrash (Mechilta) explains that the word לאמר, to say, in the verse that introduces the sounding of the Ten Commandments, is not an instruction to those being addressed to repeat what they are being told to others, as […]