With Parshas Vaera, the process of subjecting Pharaoh and Egypt to a series of plagues begins. Certain plagues Pharaoh resists. Others he is intimidated by and submits to. Is there a pattern? Moshe and Aaron turn the Nile to blood, and despite the disturbing threat to the survival of a nation that depends on the river, we are told that "Pharaoh turned and went into his house". (Shemos 7:23) And so for the next plague, G-d sends a more personal threat to Pharaoh. The frogs will "go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs." G-d places the order of the infestation as the order of importance that these events have to Pharaoh. When his people were suffering, Pharaoh retreated to his house, his palace, and let his people dig for drinking water. But now the plague, even though seemingly less harmful and threatening, will i...

In Parshas Shemos, G-d's message to Pharaoh isn't so much, "Let my people go" as "Let my people go for three days". While G-d's message to the Jews is that he will bring them to Israel, His message to Pharaoh is, "And now let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our G-d." Why does G-d tell Moshe to try and trick Pharaoh, a trick which doesn't work in any case? Since G-d already tells Moshe that Pharaoh will only let them go after a great deal of punishment has been meted out, why bother with the ruse? To understand that, let's examine why Pharaoh didn't want to let the Jews go. Pharaoh's plan for enslavement begins with the fear that the Jews will escape Egypt. But why worry about the Jews leaving if they haven't even been enslaved yet? And if Pharaoh wants to enslave the Jews, why does he then start trying to kill them? If the goal is to rid Egypt of J...

The Torah associates Succos with happiness more than any other holiday. It is the holiday we are told to rejoice on. It is the season of our rejoicing. What makes Succos so happy? Why is it happier than Pesach or Shavuot, the other two of the three Regalim? Pesach and Shavuot were both marred by rebellion and strife. At the sea, some Jews shouted at Moshe, "Were there no graves in Egypt, that you brought us to die in the wilderness". After the giving of the Torah, some made a golden calf. But Succos was free of any such strife. When G-d settled the Jews in huts, there were no arguments. This too is why the Clouds of Glory, which some believe Succos commemorates, received their own holiday, but not the miracles of manna or water. Both of these miracles were met with protests and complaints. But there were no protests or complaints over the Clouds of Glory. Where there is argument and strife, there cannot be happiness. Succos is the time of our rejoicing, because th...

Parshas Vayelech is often read between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and yet it references neither of them. Instead it's used as the answer to the famous question, "Esther min HaTorah minayin." Where do we see a reference to Megilat Esther and the miracle of Purim in the Torah in which the Jews are saved from Haman's evil decree of extermination. The answer that Chazal give comes from Parshas Vayelech. "VeAnochi haster astir panay bayom hahu". "And I will hide, hide my face on that day." Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?  And I will hide, hide my face on that day for all the evil that they have, in that they turned to other gods.  Devarim/Deuteronomy 31:17-18 Purim and Yom Kippur ha...

Parshas Ki Seitzei bars an Ammonite or Moavite from marrying into the Jewish people even unto the tenth generation. While an Edomite and Egyptian may marry in the third generation. What's the fundamental basis for the distinction? The ban on Ammon and Moav follows that of the one on bastards and indeed both nations are the products of incest. Improper relations of this sort are occasionally referred to in the Torah as "Chessed" or kindness because they have the appearance of love to them. The distinction goes to the two types of anti-Semitism defined by the Edomites and the Moavites. Edom and Egypt were open in their hostility toward the Jews. They sought to persecute and kill them. Whatever malice they had depends on their strength and their national power. By the third generation they no longer present a danger. However Ammon and Moav represents a more insidious form of corruption as they demonstrated by hiring Bilaam and then attempting to corrupt the Jews. R...