A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT FROM RABBI MORDY Instead of writing about this week’s Parsha (Va’etchanan), I’m going to deviate because this Shabbos is a special and exceptionally joyful Shabbos, called Tu B’av (the 15th of Av). Wait, you may ask, a joyful day? Last Shabbos had us preoccupied with Tisha B’av, considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Give… Read More

A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT FROM RABBI MORDY Besides for this week being the first Parsha in the final book of the Torah (Devarim), it also has a special name: Shabbat Chazon. This refers to the Haftara, the reading after the portion that stems from the Book of Prophets. It’s always read on the Shabbat prior to the 9th of Av,… Read More

A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT BY RABBI MORDY This week’s Parsha – or double Parsha as it is both Matos and Massei – concludes the book of Bamidbar, Numbers. This ends the first four books of the Torah; the fifth book, Devarim, begins next week and is written very much from Moses’s perspective. Part of the preparation for this shift in… Read More

A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT FROM RABBI MORDY Okay, I may be repeating myself from a previous Parshas Pinchas (this week’s Parsha) but I hope you’ll bear with as it’s a good one worth repeating. Pinchas is a relatively unknown figure who sees one of the leaders of the tribes flaunting an inappropriate relationship with a woman. Moses freezes. He’s unsure… Read More

A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT FROM RABBI MORDY We live in the age of social media. There is so much happening on WhatsApp, Instagram and “X” that if some of us go a day without checking these sources, it feels as though we’ve been completely out of touch, regardless of how “with it” we may actually be. We find something in… Read More