There’s a word which comes up twice in this parsha and nowhere else in the Chumash, the 5 Books of Moses. (It does appear elsewhere in Nach) – belial. The first time we encounter it is in describing a “subverted city”. One whi...
The Ten Plagues are drawing to a climax. The terrible plague of darkness will shortly descend, and in preparation, God issues some instructions to Moses (according to the JPS Torah translation): Speak now in the ears of the people, and le...
Kohelet – the Book of Ecclesiastes – which we read on Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkot, is a first person account from someone who has been there and done that, a wealthy but world-weary king who asks: ‘What real value (yitron) is there f...
