Parsha Vaetchanan: A Torah on Relationships

In this week’s parsha (Torah portion), we have plenty of excitement and thrills and chills.  Let’s check it out.  The parsha is named after the first word, vaetchanan, which means, “And I pleaded or beseeched,” because the parsha continues Moshe’s (Moses) history lesson to the nation by telling them how he beseeched haShem (god) to let him come into the land.  HaShem denies the request and instead tells Moshe to climb a mountain and see the land.  God also tells … Continue reading

Parsha Pinchas: A New Generation of Torah

It is that time again for a word or two on this week’s parsha (Torah portion).  The parsha is titled Pinchas (or Phineas for those of you with an English bent) and it is a strange beast.  The week before, we left our heroes fighting a plague for getting involved in idol worship and having Pinchas come to the rescue by killing a high ranking Jew and his Midianite lover.  In this parsha, Pinchas gets rewarded, and god tells Moshe … Continue reading