weekly insights

This week is an opportunity to extend our knowledge of a familiar bible story, perhaps known since childhood: Noah’s ark. You may already be familiar with what God said to Noah before the building of the ark. We can readily recall that God expressed disappointment in the wickedness of the human race and revealed the divine plan to destroy the earth in a flood. But what were God’s words to Noah after the flood, after Noah and his family and animals had come out of the ark? Rea

I love this part of the Jewish calendar - when the weekly reading of the Torah in synagogues begins all over again, with the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis ('Bereshit', 'In the beginning', is its Hebrew title). I t always feels like a fresh start. A moment of renewal. In whatever way my annual commitment to Torah reading might have lagged or been interrupted over the past twelve months, now is my opportunity to begin again at Genesis 1:1. And what beautiful stories f

Teresa Pirola | October 7, 2025 The first detail I notice is the bullet holes. They disfigure everything in sight — walls, ceiling,...

Festival greetings to Jewish friends for Rosh Hashanah, with heartfelt wishes and prayers for all the goodness & sweetness of the new...

Moses and the Israelites are encamped on the plains of Moab, poised to enter the promised land. There Moses gives a final speech,...

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...