Parshah Columnists

The borderless war by terrorism is a new phenomenon, but its roots are age-old: an ideology of discontent that causes people to be disgusted by, and ultimately hate, cultures different than theirs.

Like the Israelites of old, we are challenged by life, death and the journeys in between. The Torah’s guidance illuminates our ways.

A life sentence for jaywalking? Twenty years for chewing gum in public? Singapore notwithstanding, surely that's over the top! Well, was it so different for Moses, who is punished and denied entrance to the Promised Land for the seemingly minor infraction of hitting a rock instead of speaking to it?

In our age of the information explosion, ignorance has become a lousy excuse

The sages tell us that there is a link between the 613 commandments (mitzvot) and the human body . . .

There is the image of water: a spring of water among the garnsde, that trickles underground, down, down, down, through the layers of stone and sand which refine it and purify it . . .

Our role as Jews is to be an example. The Torah describes us, thousands of years ago, as expressing the virtues of modesty and privacy.

Instead of pouring his fear out and onto his people, Moses strapped on a face of calm and fortitude, and went around tranquilly planting seeds of serenity in the Israelite camp...

If striking the rock was so awful, why was it okay so many years earlier? Why didn't Moses follow G-d's simple instructions? Why did this seemingly minor offense have such severe consequences?

Why was this nation immune from G-d's curses and wrath? Let's listen to what our enemy has to say on the matter...

Balak was having a bad day. The Moab State Department has just sent him a memo that two mighty kings in the region had being defeated and killed by the invading Hebrews. Consumed with panic, he called a press conference...

Just as some businessmen become traumatized by the mistakes of their early career and refuse to ever again venture into uncharted territory or speculative investments, it must have been so tempting for the Jews to play it safe and await further orders.

I don't get it. We've got no Jews, no rabbis, no home grown talent, that we need a Bilaam to introduce such a fundamental concept as the messianic redemption?

It’s easy to mock the ancient idol worshippers for their misplaced emphasis on style over substance, but how many of us make similar mistakes in our personal lives?

Our approach to life and to the Torah is in a manner of chok, of engraving...

On the one hand, he’s declared to be nothing less than the equal of Abraham (in passion) and Moses (in prophecy); on the other, he’s described as the most perverse, greedy and corrupt human being ever to walk the face of the earth!

We all know the story of how Balaam's curses turned into blessings. But according to the Talmud, most of them turned back into curses

Why do you bother getting out of bed in the morning?

It seems that Balaam knew what many of us have learned in recovery—that it is the pursuit of gratifying our most basic instincts that disrupts our natural connectedness with G‑d.