Bechira—free choice, is a core dimension of our humanity and a foundation of our belief system. As Rambam articulated repeatedly (see Hilchos Teshuva chapter 5,

“L’maan lo niga larik, Let us not toil in vain.” The deepest wish of each of us is that we achieve what we set out

Memory is identity. This was expressed beautifully by Rabbi Sacks z”l in his Haggadah commentary: “There is a profound difference between history and memory. History

Trust is a critical component of any relationship. And it is essential to our faith in God. “Tamim tih’yeh im Hasem Elokecha, Have complete trust

Years ago, I would spend 10 days each summer at a program known as “Sinai Retreats,” spending a nice chunk of each day teaching Torah

There is a word that is found in the Torah a total of four times, three of them in this week’s Parsha (8:10, 8:12, 11:15),

The first promise given to Avraham (Bereishit 12:2) was that he would be made into a goy gadol, “a great nation,” but it is only

We always read Parshat Devarim on the Shabbos preceding Tisha B’Av. This is obviously fitting as the parsha begins by discussing the apparently imminent entry

All over modern Israel, one finds miklat signs, directing passers-by to the nearest bomb shelter. They serve as a painful and poignant reminder of the

As Jews, we are used to fighting for both our physical and spiritual survival. Classic sources saw this duality in the two festivals of Purim

By Rabbi Moshe Hauer There is an enormous amount of debate and commentary regarding the incident recorded in our parsha that resulted in Moshe and

The story of the spies abruptly interrupted the march of Jewish history from Egypt to Eretz Yisrael. Eretz Yisrael is the land that Avraham recognized