History

G‑d is omnipotent. He can simultaneously be within and yet remain aloof. But we, His children... how can we be expected to suffer through exile while retaining our exalted status as G‑d's children?

A courtroom. A judge reads off the charges. The defendant took his victim, drugged him, called in several of his assistants and methodically, with forethought cut the man's stomach open, removed organs, put in foreign substances...

In a few brush strokes, our Parshah outlines two pictures: one of "Redemption" -- national and individual wholeness; the other of Galut -- fragmentation and conflict

In the portion of Bechukotai, we read that the Jewish people will confess their iniquity and their fathers’ iniquity (Leviticus 26:39). In the next verse, G‑d promises that He will bring them into the land of their enemies (Leviticus 26:40). It would seem...

The Torah did not abolish slavery, but it set in motion a process that would lead people to come of their own accord to the conclusion that it was wrong. How it did so is one of the wonders of history.

Being a Jew requires forcefulness and a commanding nature—qualities seemingly incompatible with humility . . .

Our Parshah gives us a insight into the nature of freedom. Perhaps it challenges some of our assumptions

When the Torah reader came to the part of the curses, he lowered his voice and read in a softer tone. Suddenly, the Klausenburger Rebbe shouted: “Hecher! Louder!” The reader was confused. He was simply following the tradition of generations . . .

On the fifth day of the crisis, when all but the Jewish hostages were released, the Israeli government realized that Jews were once again alone in the world. History was repeating itself.

It is a little known lowlight of history that the Nazis were avid Judaica collectors. Rather than destroy the artifacts and objets d'art they had captured, they preserved them and actively added to the collection...