_(english).jpg "My Son's Yarmulka")
_(english).jpg "Soul Food")
_(english).jpg "Searching for Superman")
_(english).jpg "Tammuz: Forces of Nature")
_(english).jpg "America and Jewish Values")
_(english).jpg "Seven Wonders of Jewish History")
+.jpg "Bilaam Versus Abraham")
+.jpg "Friends and Family")
+.jpg "Following the Leader")
.jpg "Teshuvah on Yom Kippur")
Teshuvah on Yom Kippur
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiLet us examine two aspects of the process of teshuvah (repentance) and the return to God, which constitutes the major theme of Yom Kippur. Rabbi ...
When Was the World Created?
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiIt was taught: Rabbi Eliezer said, "The world was created in Tishrei."...Rabbi Yehoshua said, "The world was created in Nissan." ...
The Torah Written On Stone
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiMoshe and the elders of Yisrael commanded the people, saying, "Keep all of the mitzvah which I am commanding you today. And it shall be on the ...
Reward in the Next World
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiRabbi Abba bar Kahana said: "God says, 'Do not sit and weigh the mitzvos of the Torah...Don't say, "Since a particular mitzvah is ...
Pillars and Altars
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe Torah portion contains, as does so much of Sefer Devarim, many warnings against idolatry and emulating the nefarious practices of the indigenous ...
Two Laws, One Reason
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiYou are children of the Lord your God. Do not slash yourselves nor make a bald patch between your eyes for the dead. For you are a holy people to ...
Mishpatim and Chesed
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe Torah portion opens with the following exclamation: And it shall come to pass, if you listen to these mishpatim and you guard them and do ...
There Is Always Hope
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiIn the early part of this Torah portion, Moshe Rabbeinu continues his rebuke of klal Yisrael, reminding them of their special relationship with God ...
A Unique Work
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThese are the words [things] which Moshe spoke to all of Yisrael... (Devarim 1:1) My holy father suggested an idea that helps us to understand ...
Klal Yisrael and Vows
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe Torah portion opens with the laws appertaining to vows: When a man makes a vow to God, or swears an oath to prohibit something to his soul, ...
Pinchas and Kayin
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe end of Parshas Balak describes how Bilam managed to lure some of klal Yisrael into inappropriate relationships with Moabite women and ultimately ...
The Nature of the Shalosh Regalim
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiOne of the most enigmatic episodes related in the Torah is that of Bilam and his donkey. The Torah relates that while journeying to meet King Balak, ...
Why Now?
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe first section of the sidrah discusses the most enigmatic law of the Torah: the parah adumah (red cow). This perfectly red specimen was burnt ...
Plates of Brass
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiPart of the rebellion of Korach involved 250 men whom Moshe commanded to offer incense in fire pans. They appeared at the Mishkan, and after the ...
Too Late
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiA large section of the sidrah relates the story of the meraglim (spies). Twelve men, one from each tribe, went to assess Eretz Yisrael prior to klal ...
Aharon's Gift
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe sidrah opens with a brief description of the Menorah in the Mishkan and the command that Aharon and his descendants are charged with its ...
Efriam's Offering
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe end of this, the longest sidrah in the Torah, describes at great length the offerings brought by the princes of the tribes of Yisrael at the ...
Everything Depends on Action
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiRabbi Berachyah said, "The tablets were six tefachim long - in some sense, God grasped two tefachim, Moshe grasped two tefachim, and two ...
Shemittah and Shabbos
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe entire parsha is occupied with the laws of shemittah and yovel, the seventh and fiftieth years of the agricultural cycle, in which the fields in ...
Lag B'Omer: Community or Individual?
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiRabbi Akiva had twenty-four thousand students, and all of them died at the same time of the year [during the omer], because they failed to give ...
With This
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe Torah portion begins with a description of the service performed on Yom Kippur in the Mishkan and later in the Beis HaMikdash. God said to ...
Toes and Thumbs
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiIn Parshios Tazria and Metzora, in which we learned of the metzora - a person who contracts a specific type of skin disease, perhaps leprosy or ...
Ohel Mo'ed and the Power of Unity
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe first part of the Torah portion describes the final day of the inauguration ceremony of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle). After Aharon and the ...
Seder: The Redemption of Speech
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiOur obligation to conduct the Seder and relate the story of the Exodus to our children is derived from the following verse: And you shall tell to ...
An Offering of Fine Flour
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe entire Torah portion is devoted to describing the various offerings that were brought by klal Yisrael in the Mishkan and later in the Beis ...
Aharon's Rationale
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiPerhaps the most famous episode of the post-Exodus experience is the construction of the eigel hazahav (golden calf). When Moshe returned from his ...
Zachor: Amalek and Shabbos
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiTo give us an idea of the intense wickedness of the nation of Amalek, our Sages make the following assertion: Amalek is the opposite of Shabbos. ...
Three Crowns
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiRabbi Shimon said, "There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of kehunah (priesthood), and the crown of malchus (kingship). But the ...
Shekalim: The Power of the Fiery Shekel
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe parsha of "Shekalim" describes the half-shekel coin that every Jew was required to contribute to the communal coffers on a yearly ...
A Bow and a Kiss
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe start of this week's Torah portion sees Yisro, Moshe’s father-in-law, leaving his home in Midian to visit klal Yisrael at their desert ...
The Hidden Trio
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiA substantial part of this Torah portion is devoted to the mon (manna) - how it fell, when it fell, and what it was like. One of the lesser-known ...
Moshe and the Korban Peasch
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiBefore the last plague, the execution of the firstborn, God announced to Moshe and Aharon the details of the korban pesach (paschal offering), which ...
The Plagues and Teshuvah
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiAfter the wild animals attacked the Egyptians, Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon. After some negotiation, we find: Pharaoh said, "I will ...
The Three Signs
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiWhen God spoke to Moshe at the burning bush, Moshe was concerned that klal Yisrael, crushed by the terrors of the Egyptian slavery, would not ...
Reuven's Error
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiYaakov begins his blessings of the twelve sons by focusing on Reuven, his first son. He criticizes him for his past errors and indicates that his ...
The Importance of Necks
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiTwo separate incidents in our Torah portion prompt unusual comments from Rashi: And [Yosef] fell on the necks of his brother Binyamin and wept... ...
The Chashmonaim and the Miracle Oil
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiIn a famous Gemara, Chazal describe the situation in the Beis HaMikdash at the time of the Chanukah story, after the Greeks had been repelled and ...
Yosef: The Man of Stability
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe beginning of the weekly Torah portion describes the increasingly poor relationship between Yosef and his brothers and the dreams which further ...
Just a Kiss
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe Torah portion begins with the buildup to and eventual meeting between Yaakov and Eisav, the two long-estranged brothers. At the moment of their ...
The Twelve Stones
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe beginning of the Torah portion described Yaakov's departure from Be'er Sheva and his famous dream of the ladder. Before he lay down to sleep, we ...
The Wickedness of Eisav
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiMuch of this week's Torah portion is concerned with the relationship between Yaakov and Eisav. At the end of the portion, after the incident with ...
The Tent of Sarah
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThis week's Torah portion is mainly occupied with the story of how Rivkah became Yitzchak's wife. Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, went to Aram ...
Why Do the Angels Eat?
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe Torah portion opens with Avraham recovering from his bris milah. He was sitting at the entrance to his tent, hoping to offer hospitality to any ...
The Test of the Bris
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiToward the end of the parsha, God instructed Avraham to perform bris milah (circumcision) on himself, on Yishmael his son, and on all the other ...
The Death of Haran
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiAfter the well-known stories of the Flood and the Tower of Babel, the sidrah concludes with a long genealogy. It traces human history from Noach and ...
The Philosophy of the Snake
by Rabbi Zvi BelovskiThe central part of this parsha involves the story of Adam and Chavah's brief stay in Gan Eden. God gave them permission to eat all the fruits in ...
