Chabad Rebbes

The fifth section of the Book of Deuteronomy continues Moses’ second farewell address to the Jewish people. It opens as Moses instructs the Jewish people to appoint judges (Shofetim, in Hebrew) throughout the Land of Israel to try cases and uphold the law...

This week’s Torah reading includes the mitzvah of eglah arufah, a ritual act whereby the neck of a calf is broken to atone for the murder of a person who was slain by an unknown assailant. In ultimate terms, a Jew’s life is his connection to G‑dliness, as...

Jeffrey Kimball is a lawyer and an active member of the Lubavitch community in Springfield, Mass. When asked to describe his connection with the Rebbe, he tells a story that goes back several decades ago. Several of his associates came to him with what ap...

In the town of Pshischah, there lived a great scholar who, while personally friendly with Reb Yaakov Yitzchak, the saintly Yehudi, felt that the honor and prestige which the chassidim gave to their Rebbe should really have been granted to him. After all, ...

I. On the verse:Devarim 20:19. “Is a man a tree of the field...?” the TalmudTaanis 7a. reiterates the question asked by the verse and explains: [The verse states:]1 “From it, you shall eat; you shall not cut it down. [And the passage continues:]Devarim 20...

In our Sidra we read of the cities of refuge, to which a man who had killed accidentally could flee, find sanctuary and atone. The month of Elul, in which this Sidra is always read, is, in time, what the cities of refuge were in space. It is a month of sa...

The Torah portion Shoftim begins with the statement:Devarim 16:18. “Appoint yourselves judges and police” — “Justices who rule on matters of law, and police who insure that the judgments are carried out.”Rashi , Devarim, ibid. See also Tanchuma, Shoftim 2...

The Heart of the Nation In the Torah portion of Shoftim, we learn the laws relating to the appointment and conduct of a Jewish king.Devarim 17:14-20. Concerning a Jewish monarch’s character, the Rambam states:Hilchos Melachim 3:6. “His heart is the heart ...

In the Torah portion Shoftim we are commanded to treat trees with respect, for “Man is a tree of the field.”Devarim 20:19. What is the resemblance between the loftiest creature and lowly vegetation? The special quality of plants and trees lies in their at...

Discussing the verseDevarim 20:19. “For man is a tree of the field,” the Sifri comments: “This teaches us that man derives his sustenance exclusively from the tree.” How are we to understand this statement, when a person is obviously sustained by other fo...