This week’s Torah portion (Parashat Eikev – Deut. 7:12ff.) opens with the words: “And it shall be, because you will listen to these judgments and keep and perform them, that the LORD your God will ...

This week's Torah reading, Parashat Eikev, continues with the second of Moses' three farewell discourses to his beloved nation, in which he recounts the salient events of the last forty years of ...

“It will be, as a result of your hearkening to these ordinances, and your guarding and doing them – HaShem your G-d will guard the Covenant and the loving-kindness for you, as He swore to your fathers ...

There are seven weeks between Tisha B’Av, the Fast Day of the Ninth of Av, when both Jewish Temples were destroyed and other calamities occurred to the Jewish people, and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New ...

Are we too emotionally invested in cultural icons? Should we be insulted by a decision of the board of Unilever/Ben & Jerry’s? The recent corporate decision to discontinue sales of Ben & Jerry’s ice ...

Our guest this week is Rabbi Robert Dobrusin of the Temple Beth Israel congregation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rabbi Dobrusin has served as Rabbi at Beth Israel since 1988. He received his B.A. in Near ...

Although we may live lives dedicated to following the commandments of the Torah, the core question of “What does God ask of us?” is posed by Moses. He offers the following answer: “Only to fear and ...

As Rabbi Saperstein says, the meaning of the verse within its context is, “You don’t need bread, you can survive physically on something else. That’s very different from what we assume it to mean.” ...

Welcome to Deuteronomy’s world of covenantal theology. Israel must obey the commandments, and God must bless Israel with progeny and prosperity in the Promised Land. However, in this verse, God ...

Rashi notes that the word ekev connotes a human heel. What the text is teaching is the importance of keeping those commandments that seem less important, like the dirt that one kicks up with one’s ...