Lubavitcher Rebbe; adapted by Jonathan Sacks

Among the laws detailed in our Sidra is a section about divorce. The Rebbe analyzes the concept of divorce, both as it applies between man and wife and between man and G-d. It pursues certain paradoxes in the Talmudic tractate on divorce (Gittin) and in t...

In our Sidra we read of the cities of refuge, to which a man who had killed accidentally could flee, find sanctuary and atone. The month of Elul, in which this Sidra is always read, is, in time, what the cities of refuge were in space. It is a month of sa...

The following Sicha illustrates in a striking way an important truth about the nature of Chassidic thought. Chassidut is not simply one amongst many of the branches of Jewish thinking. It is not separate from or merely supplementary to the “revealed” face...

Last week and this, we read the first two Haftorot of “consolation,” two powerful passages from Isaiah which present a vision of hope and solace to Israel in the dark times of the loss of the Temple. A Midrashic source, however, tells us that there is a d...

The 9th of Av is the date on which both Temples were destroyed. Each year, on the subsequent Shabbat, we read as our Haftorah the famous passage of consolation from Isaiah “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people.” The Midrash tells us that this is, literally, a...

The Sidra of Devarim is always read on the Shabbat before the 9th of Av, the date on which both Temples fell. These tragedies are reflected in the choice of Haftorah for the surrounding weeks, those before the 9th of Av expressing prophecies of rebuke for...

Our Sidra begins with an account of the 42 journeys by which the Israelites left Egypt and came to the borders of the Chosen Land. The opening verse, however, suggests that all of the journeys were an exodus from Egypt, whereas in fact only the first one ...

In the opening verses of our Sidra we encounter the laws of making and annulling a vow. And whereas a person cannot release himself from his pledges, in certain cases, others can do it for him. In particular, a father can release his daughter (if she has ...

The beginning of the Sidra describes G-d’s reward to Pinchas for his zealousness in avenging Zimri’s insolence in bringing a heathen woman into the camp of the Israelites. Rashi, in his commentary, seems to be troubled by an apparently unnecessary repetit...