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Ki Tavo: The Fear of God

by Michael Carasik This week’s portion, though it begins with encouragement and promise, contains one of the grimmest passages in the Bible.  The Israelites learn that keeping the commandments and following the path prescribed for them by God will lead to comprehensive blessing.Ki Teitzei: Defending Human Dignity

From beginning to end, this week's reading offers a catalog of value-laden statements about how the ancient Israelites were to become a good people.Shoftim: The Apotheosis of Justice

This week's portion, Shoftim ("judges"), begins with an exhortation to pursue justice: "justice, justice shall you pursue" (16:20).Ekev: The Nature of the Covenant

The Tablets of the Covenant: we all have an image of them in our minds, thanks to Rembrandt.  In Hebrew, they even have their own Wikipedia entry.  They are the bedrock of the Jewish relationship with God.D’varim: “Weeping for the Generations”

This week's portion, which inaugurates the book of Deuteronomy, is traditionally read on the Shabbat immediately preceding Tisha b'Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, the anniversary of the destructions of both the First and Second Temples.Mas’ei: Tz’lafhad’s Daughters and Hamlet

This week's reading, Mas'ei, closes out the book of Numbers. It is named for the travels (masa'ot) of the Israelites during their approximately four-decade sojourn in the wilderness.Mattot: The Wrong Side of the River

by Michael Carasik "The farmer and the cowman should be friends," advises the song, but they generally aren't.  This week's portion suggests this was the case even in ancient Israel.  Earlier in the book of Numbers we have seen challenges to the leadership of Moses, from Korah and even from his own siblings, Miriam and Aaron.  Now, a rift that goes right through the people is exposed.Pinhas: “Simeon and Levi are Brothers”

  This week's reading places principal emphasis on the order of the sacrifices, delineating the entire year's required offerings along with their accompanying libations and meal-offerings. It begins, however, where last week's reading left off: with the aftermath of the Midianites' seduction of the Israelites.Hukkat: Moses’ Mistake

This week's reading contains an apparently straightforward episode that is in fact one of the most mysterious in the Bible. When the Israelites find themselves without water, they become quarrelsome. Moses is commanded by God to "speak to the rock and let it produce its water" (Numbers 20:8).Korah: The Morning After

It is one of the most famous stories in the book of Numbers, yet we often miss the story behind the story. For it turns out that the rebellion of Korah, which features prominently in this week's reading, is really just a frontispiece for a far more interesting drama playing out in the background.