With this week’s haftarah, we introduce a new function for the weekly prophetic selection. Until this point, the purpose of the haftarah was to strike

Parshat Balak The closing words of today’s haftarah are among the most familiar in all of Tanach. The navi Micha’s statement that Hashem demands no

Parshat Chukat Today’s parsha opens with the oft-discussed law of the para aduma. Due to our familiarity with this portion we may tend to connect

Parshat Korach Shabbat Rosh Chodesh This Shabbat is also Rosh Chodesh and, as such, we eschew the usual prophetic selection read for Parshat Korach and

Parshat Shelach This week’s haftarah is taken from the second perek in Sefer Yehoshua, which actually relates events that took place even before those found

Parshat Bamidbar Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers, gets its English title from the Greek translation of Chazal’s appellation of the book, Sefer Hapekudim, the

Parshat Emor As we have learned from previous haftarah selections taken from the final section of Yechezkel, the navi describes the future Temple service that

Shabbat HaGadol Parshat Metzora After studying today’s haftarah, one realizes that there seems to be very little connection to the fact that it is the

Parshat Vayikra This opening parsha of Sefer Vayikra serves as a logical continuation of the final parshiyot of Sefer Shmot that we read last week.

Shabbat HaChodesh: Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei The special maftir reading established by the Tana’im in the Mishna was meant to remind the congregation that the time to

Parshat Parah As the Pesach holiday approached, it was essential to remind the people that one must maintain a state of “purity,” as one who

Shabbat Zachor Parshat Tetzave This Shabbat before Purim requires us to read of our obligation to destroy Amalek, as the story of Purim came about