Matot-Massei Videos

The Itche Kadoozy show celebrates its 42nd season on the air, and Jono shows us some vintage clips from the very first season of the IKS.

Setting boundaries means that instead of taking on other people’s beliefs or standards, we become in tune with our own.

In the second haftorah of the “Trilogy of Tribulations” we learn how the prophet Jeremiah’s rebuke of his contemporaries can teach us today how to turn criticism into a powerful catalyst for change.

Study some of the highlights of the weekly Torah portion with insights from various commentaries.

The mitzvah to observe the Torah’s dietary laws of eating kosher are all-encompassing in daily living. The campaign to encourage our fellow Jews to go Kosher – on a practical level – focuses on keeping a kosher kitchen. Explore the unique quality of this mitzvah and why it’s critical to the Jewish experience.

The Land of Israel is Heaven’s perfectly suitable gift suited for the Jewish people. By the same token, it is beyond what the Jews can ever deserve.

Why is the list of encampments repeated? Rashi seems to offer two different reasons; his choice of commentary is better understood upon analysis of six early manuscripts of Rashi.

The Torah prohibits constructing the Temple with wood; only stone and brick are admissible. Yet the high priest's chamber, located in the Temple proper, was made of wood. This class will present an analysis of the subject from both halachic and spiritual viewpoints. (Likutei Sichos vol 28, Parshas Massei)

G-d tells Moses, “A thousand for each tribe, a thousand from each tribe, from all the tribes of Israel you shall send into the army [to battle the Midianites].” (Numbers 31:4) The Hebrew word for thousand is “elef,” which is spelled the same as “alef.” What is the connection between the battle against Midian, the letter alef, and the Three Weeks of mourning over the destruction of the Temple?

Just before entering the Promised Land, two and a half of the Twelve Tribes ask for special permission to settle on the other side of the Jordan River. If they were meant to settle in that place, then why didn't G-d assign it to them to begin with? And if they were not meant to settle there, then why did G-d agree to their request?

Jews are naturally repelled by promiscuity. Discover Rashi’s insight into Bilam’s top secret plan to get the Jews to sin in the one area they were vigilant to avoid.

Rashi explores Talmudic sources to dissect the Torah law about how a person becomes impure if they kill someone.

Never make promises you cannot keep, right? Rashi highlights how some vows are spiritually essential, others spiritually unhealthy.