(31:1-30) Joshua is appointed successor to Moses. Moses completes the writing of the Torah.
The last mitzvah in the Torah is that every one of us should write—or commission someone to write—a Torah scroll to be used to learn from and serve as the primary text Jewish people should be taught. You might disagree with the Torah but you can’t deny that it is the source of everything Jewish […]
Shortly before Moses died, he wrote a text of the Torah and gave the scroll to his (Levi) tribe (Deut. 31:9). Although Torah scrolls have been preserved over the generations, they have also been disgraced by our enemies. Here is one example. For many years during the Roman occupation of Israel, it was forbidden to publicly […]
What if there’s only enough penicillin for one person but there are a few people in the hospital who need it? What criterion should the doctor use in making a decision? The answer is found in this week’s Parsha.You are standing today, all of you, before G-d: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and […]
I read a story of an encounter that took place almost sixty years ago between American Rabbi and a wealthy congregant, who was bemoaning the lack of Judaism in his life. With deep nostalgia, he recalled the blissful days of his childhood in the shtetel (small village in Eastern Europe). There was a lump in his throat […]
See–I have placed before you today life and good, death and evil… I invoke the heavens and earth today to bear witness against you. I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse; and you shall choose life, so that you may live; you and your offspring. (Deuteronomy 30:15-19) Rashi explains how heaven […]
One of the most famous sibling rivalries in the Torah is that of Yaakov (Jacob) and Eisav (Esau). Eisav and his army have finally caught up with Yaakov and fear is in the midst. …We came to your brother, to Esau, and he is heading toward you with four hundred men. And Jacob became very […]
Write this song for yourselves… (31:19) Jewish Trivia Question: What is the last mitzvah in the Torah? The last of the 613 mitzvos is the obligation to write a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll). Imagine if there would be a law in the United States that every citizen had to write a copy of the constitution. […]
