weekly insights

At last! After forty years of desert-trekking, the G-d-given homeland of the Israelites is within their grasp. But are they ready for...

In the Torah some legal rulings involve public officials. Others are directed at ordinary people—families, employees, neighbours. Let’s...

The focus for our Torah reflection today is a tithing law in Deuteronomy 14:22-26. Taking a tenth of the year’s agricultural produce,...

In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses delivers a series of speeches as he prepares the Israelites for entry into the Promised Land. In chapter...

In the Book of Deuteronomy, as Moses continues his farewell discourse just outside the promised land, he reminds the Israelites of the...

In Deuteronomy 1:6-18, Moses retells (and embellishes) a story already told in Exodus 18: how he appointed and instructed a number of...

Our focus this week is Numbers 33:1-49, a review of the travels of the Israelites from their departure from Egypt to the steppes of Moab...

“Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward” (Numbers 27:1). Do you know the story of Zelophehad’s daughters? The Bible depicts them...

On their way to the promised land the Israelites encounter one obstacle after another: hunger, thirst, rebellion, war. Here we explore...

"Miriam died there, and was buried there" (Numbers 20:1). That’s it. In one brief sentence, the Bible records the death of Miriam, sister...

Rebellion in the wilderness is a major theme as the Hebrew Scriptures trace the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. In...

Have you ever faced a critical decision where the way forward was unclear, risky, and the stakes high? Yet everything in your life had...

In order to assist Moses in the heavy task of leadership, the Lord instructs him (in Numbers 11:16-30) to gather seventy elders around...

When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in a house in the land of your...

As Jewish communities prepare to celebrate the Passover festival, commencing at sundown on 12 April 2025, Light of Torah shares this...

As we open the Book of Leviticus, also known as ‘Vayikra’ (Hb: ‘And he called’), we find not a series of action-packed stories, but a...

Many Christians find it intimidating to read those parts of their Old Testament that are filled with repetitive ritual detail. The...

Given the frenetic and overwhelming pace of modern life, it might seem obvious to point out the importance of rest and ‘time-out’ for the...

The story of the rebellion at Mt Sinai, where the Israelites erect a golden calf (Exodus 32:1-6), raises an interesting question: Up...

This week’s Torah reflection raises sensitive issues, relating to G-d’s command to “utterly blot out the memory of Amalek” (Ex 17:14)....