The Exodus and Us

Is it a coincidence that the Hebrew word for evil is ra and that Ra just so happens to be the most powerful of the Egyptian gods (the very one that pharaohs were often said to be incarnations of)? Many academic scholars argue that it is not! Indeed, the fact that...

The Value of Clean Speech

Parshat Tazria deals with the mysterious ailment of tzaraat. Though often translated into English as something similar to leprosy, it is unclear what this skin-whitening condition actually is. One thing, though, is clear. The cause of tzaraat is...

Tetzaveh: The Clothes Make the Kohen?

Parshat Tetzaveh contains a fascinating collection of mitzvot related to the bigdei kehuna the clothes that the kohanim, priests, wore. But what exactly is this mitzvah all about? Rav Binyamim Tabory analyzes several different positions on this throughout the Jewish...

Secrets of the Song

Picture this: The Jewish people have just gotten out of Egypt. On one side of them is the Sea of Reeds while on the other side is the Egyptians, dead-set on returning the Jews to their slavery. Caught between a rock and a hard place, it seems as if all hope is lost....

Chanukah Lights

In his book Likutei Halachot, Rabbi Nosson of Breslav relates the Hebrew word Chanukah (rededication) to the word chinuch (education). In fact, he teaches that the essence of the holiday of Chanukah, remembering the Maccabean victory over the Greeks and their...