Yitschak Meir Kagan

At the conclusion of the parshah of Behaalotecha we read how when Miriam had to live outside of Israel's desert encampment for seven days, "...the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again" (Numbers 12:15). Two million people, with all their...

Why was G‑d’s voice confined to the Sanctuary?

"And proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants..." (Leviticus 25:10). Perhaps because liberty is so highly valued in today's society, deprivation of liberty is considered the ultimate punishment. And so the prison system has become the p...

One’s study of Torah should be as letters that are hewn out of stone, not as letters of ink that are written on paper. What does this mean?

This week's Torah reading, Emor, contains the following command pertaining to the Shabbat: "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Shabbat of rest... you shall do no manner of work" (Leviticus 23:3.) How meaningful are even the most si...

The commandment to count the Omer is an mitzvah upon every individual -- as opposed to a communal obligation. This tells us something about the nature of our relationship with Torah.

"And G-d spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel, saying: If a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy..." (Leviticus 12:2). Several verses earlier, at the close of the previous Torah reading (Shemini) the Torah exhorts, "And you sh...

At the close of the Parshah of Vayikra, the Torah teaches that a person who denied under oath that he had another’s money in his possession, but later admitted having sworn falsely and having had the money all along—such a person must return the money to ...

And Moses assembled all the congregation of the Children of Israel and said unto them: "These are the words which G-d has commanded that you should do them. Six days shall work be done but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of ...

Can a mere half-shekel atone for the gravest of sins? Perhaps the answer lies in the “halfness” of the coin . . .