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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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, 20192 min read
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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