Haazinu – The Prophetic Vision of Moses
This parashah contains a song of Moses, which follows the Torah’s traditional pattern of poetry by being written in equal couplets...
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Rabbi Skorka
- Oct 3, 2019
- 2 min
Vayelech – The last two commands
In this parashah the last two precepts appear that, through Moses, God declares to the people of Israel. Both refer to the importance and...
Rabbi Skorka
- Sep 26, 2019
- 2 min
Nitzavim- To covenant with God
This parashah begins by describing how the new generation, the one born in the desert, renewed the covenant with God that Abraham had...
Rabbi Skorka
- Sep 19, 2019
- 2 min
Ki Tavo – The Prayer when bringing the first fruits
This parasha begins by presenting the prayer that the Hebrew farmer should say when offering to God the first fruits (bikurim) that were...
Rabbi Skorka
- Sep 12, 2019
- 2 min
Ki Tezte - The couple and the divorce in Judaism
This parashah is characterized by being entirely composed of general laws and, in particular, family laws. They include legislation about...
Rabbi Skorka
- Sep 5, 2019
- 2 min
Shoftim- Justice and kindness
This parashah begins with the command to establish a judicial and policing power in the society that the Israelites are going to build in...
Rabbi Skorka
- Aug 29, 2019
- 2 min
Reeh - Against demagoguery and totalitarianism
The twentieth century can be described as the time when totalitarianism spread. Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin are just some names on the...
Rabbi Skorka
- Aug 21, 2019
- 2 min
Ekev – Free will
In this parashah there is a verse (10:12) that, like Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 from last week, expresses fundamental elements of Israel's faith....
Rabbi Skorka
- Aug 15, 2019
- 2 min
Vaetchanan - The Faith of Israel
This parashah presents two passages that define Israel's faith: the Ten Commandments and the first paragraph of Keriat Shema, the prayer...
Rabbi Skorka
- Aug 8, 2019
- 2 min
Devarim - The fifth of the books in the Torah
The Jewish tradition teaches that the liturgical reading of the fifth of the books of the Torah or Pentateuch, Devarim, should begin on...
Rabbi Skorka
- Aug 1, 2019
- 2 min
Matot -Masei: The end of the journey through the desert
These two parashot, which are usually read together, both list laws and regulations about the conquest of the land of Canaan and its...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jul 24, 2019
- 2 min
Pinchas - The fanatic
At the end of the previous parashah, Balak, the text recounts how Moabite and Midianite priestesses sexually perverted many members of...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jul 16, 2019
- 2 min
Balak- The misuse of power
Balak, king of Moab, upon learning of the military victories of the children of Israel over the Amorites, decided to hire Balaam to curse...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jul 11, 2019
- 2 min
Chukat - The Error of Moses
The first thirteen verses of chapter 20 of the book of Numbers, which are part of this parashah, describe a small story of that is very...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jul 4, 2019
- 2 min
Korach - The ambition for power
"The Bible is not man´s theology but God´s anthropology.” This famous phrase of Abraham Joshua Heschel that appears in his book Man Is...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jun 27, 2019
- 2 min
Shelach Lekha- The failed path to full freedom
This parashah presents the story of the twelve spies whom the people of Israel sent from the desert into Canaan. They were to acquire...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jun 20, 2019
- 2 min
Behaalotecha – The Virtue of Humility
From the account in the book of Exodus (2: 11-17) it is clear that Moses had been chosen by God for one of the most important missions in...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jun 13, 2019
- 2 min
Nasso - The priestly blessing
In this parashah appears the formula by which the priests were to beseech God for a blessing on the people of Israel. The priestly...
Rabbi Skorka
- Jun 5, 2019
- 2 min
Bemidbar- The desert and its message
Tradition teaches us that on the Shabbat prior to the festival of Shavuot, we read the first parashah from the fourth book of the...
Rabbi Skorka
- May 30, 2019
- 2 min
Bechukotai - The suffering of the just
In this parashah the biblical text describes the blessings that will come to the righteous (those who live with goodness and rectitude)...
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