Posts Tagged: Devarim
Devarim and the Man Who Refuses to Be Broken
There is a particular quality to the voice of a man who has been trampled but refuses to be broken. I heard it this week...
The Torah Tells Us We Must Stay Positive to Persevere Through Hard Times
I heard an unattributed quote some years ago: “Complaining is like bad breath – you notice it when it comes out of someone else’s mouth,...
The Lesson of Moses: Stay Optimistic and Don’t Give Up
The Book of Devarim, the last book of the Torah, is dominated by the personality of Moses, even more than the previous three books. It...
Parshat Devarim: The Time to Follow
In the last month of his life, Moses gathered the people. He instructed them about the laws they were to keep and reminded them of...
In Judaism, Teachers Are the Heroes
Imagine the following scenario: You are 119 years and 11 months old. The end of your life is in sight. Your hopes have received devastating...
The Revelation Is Taking Place Today
“Be Careful and Guard your Life Diligently, Lest You Forget The Events That Your Eyes Saw.” (Devarim 4:9) In the Pirkei Avot, we find a rather radical...
Parsha Devarim: The Effective Critic
The first verse of Devarim, the fifth and culminating book of the Torah, sounds prosaic: “These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel...
Devarim: The Book of the Covenant
As we begin reading the fifth and final book of the Torah this week, I would like to discuss three questions. First, why does the...
The Unmatched Power of Joy
On October 14, 1663, the famous diarist Samuel Pepys paid a visit to the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Creechurch Lane in the city of...
Why Are There So Many Jewish Lawyers?
At the beginning of Devarim, Moses reviews the history of the Israelites’ experience in the wilderness, beginning with the appointment of leaders throughout the people...
Listening Can Save Someone’s Life
"If only you would listen to these laws ..." (Deut. 7: 12). These words with which our parsha begins contain a verb that is a...
The Role of a Leader is to Educate His People
It was one of the great moments of personal transformation, and it changed not only Moses but our very conception of leadership itself. By the end...
