The Bible is the best-selling book of all time—and one of the least read. Even those who profess deep love for Scripture, quoting chapter and verse with ease, rarely read it from cover to cover. We tend to skip the…
Author: Rabbi Paul
Nitzavim – Life, the Gift That Keeps on Giving
In just a few days, the shofar will sound, Rosh Hashanah will dawn, and the Days of Awe will open before us. The Jewish calendar, in its divine wisdom, does not wait for tragedy to remind us of mortality—it sets…
Ki Tavo – Normal Mystics and Wandering Arameans
From the first rays of the sun in the morning, through our meals, our chores, our friendships, our studies and our work—we are constantly surrounded by a vast array of fragrances, sounds, visions, and thoughts. Some of them catch our…
Shoftim – The Pursuit of Justice
Parashat Shoftim begins with words that seem to echo across time: “Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Deut. 16:20). The Torah doesn’t just call…
Re’eh – See With Your Heart
Our parashah begins with a single commanding word: “Re’eh” — See. Moses does not say hear, or remember, or even believe, but see. He calls us to open our eyes to a reality that already lies before us: blessing and…
Eikev – No Machers in the Kingdom
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Freud, in his own idiom, echoed him: “Where id is, let ego be.” Both saw that most people drift through life half-awake. Judaism answers with something far simpler—and far deeper.…
Chazon – A View from the Rubble
People don’t always get along. It’s not just a modern problem — it’s a human problem. We are often tired, stressed, or overwhelmed. And when someone cuts us off on the highway, lets their kids run wild in a restaurant,…
Matot / Massei – Passing On Our Inheritance
The Hebrew word morashah is often translated as heritage or legacy, and at times it refers to a more concrete inheritance. But in the biblical imagination, inheritance is never just about land or possessions—it’s about identity, destiny, and continuity. In…
Chukat – Bitter Water and Sweet Surrender
Parashat Chukat is one of the most enigmatic portions in the entire Torah. It seems to flow with contradiction: it begins with a mysterious ordinance, introduces a miraculous yet perplexing deliverance, and ends in what feels like a strange and…
Korach – In the Manner of a King
The story of Korach’s rebellion against Moses is one of the most dramatic crises of leadership in all of Torah. It’s not simply a political challenge—it’s a spiritual mutiny. Korach and his followers rise up, not because they misunderstand Moses,…