desert
The Blessing of Privacy
In today’s world of social media, nothing is private. People post and share everything about themselves, from what they ate for breakfast to their most personal and intimate moments. Sometimes it seems like privacy and personal space is a...
Did God Really Punish Moses For Hitting the Rock?
A group of thirsty people complain bitterly to Moses, “Why did you bring us to the desert, to die??” God tells Moses and Aaron: You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the...
Waving the Flag During the Exodus and in Modern Israel
As its name implies, the Book of Numbers opens with a census, counting the men of Israel for the purposes of war, and then describes how they camped in the desert. Very much like an army camp, the tribes were arranged in four groups of...
The Portion of Devarim
This portion marks the beginning of the final book of the Torah. After leading the Children of Israel valiantly through the desert for forty years, Moses prepares to part from the people. What follows in the book of Deuteronomy is his...
The Portion of Chukat
This action-packed portion begins with the laws of the red heifer, an unusual ritual which causes the participant to become pure, but those involved in the preparation to become impure. From there, the narrative picks up again with the...
