The Nine Days: Returning to the Torah of the Land of Israel

by Rav Yehoshua Weitzman, translated by Hillel Fendel

Mas'ei: Natural Life in the Land of Israel & the Tragedy of Galut

by Rav Ari Yitzhak Shvat, translated by Hillel Fendel

Matot: How Vows Are Like Idol-Worship

by several Rabanim, translated by Hillel Fendel

The beginning of this week's Torah portion of Matot focuses on certain important details pertaining to the laws of vows and oaths. A Torah-mandated oath is one by which one forbids himself to engage in one or more otherwise permitted activities. 

This leads us to ask a very fundamental question:

The Three Weeks: The Day Our Heart Stopped

by Rav Haggai Londin, translated by Hillel Fendel

It's time to end 2,000 years of "electric shock."

17th of Tammuz: What's Fasting Got to Do With It?

by Rav Yaakov Ariel, Translated by Hillel Fendel

A day of fasting in the Jewish calendar – such as this Sunday's Fast of Tammuz – is not one of dieting, but rather a day of introspection and teshuva (contrition and remorse). We are not fasting for something far-removed from ourselves, but rather for our situation this very day:

Pinhas: Love-Based Zealousness

by Rav Yosef Naveh, translated by Hillel Fendel

The main story in this week's Torah portion is how G-d blessed Pinhas for stabbing to death two public sinners, in his zeal to protect G-d's name from desecration. This blessing is particularly noteworthy, for the Torah specifically mentions that Pinhas was the grandson of man-of-peace par excellence Aharon HaKohen. Do peace and zeal truly come together?

G-d: "I want Israel in the Land – even if they defile it!"

by Rav Moshe Tzuriel, translated by Hillel Fendel

Here's a question that repeatedly arises: Given that we see some Jewish communities that by and large traditionally observed the Torah and its commandments, yet ceased doing so to a significant extent after they immigrated to the Land of Israel – was it worth it? There were great rabbis who said, prior to the Holocaust, that religious Jews should not ascend to the Land as long as its Zionist leaders were sinners and sometimes even heretics; perhaps they were right?

Balak: The Nation of Israel Is Indestructible

by Rav Berel Wein, rabbiwein.com

The Torah has great relevance to all current events. It is not a book of history but it is rather a book about humankind – its greatness and evil, wisdom and creativity, and its pettiness and foolishness. This week’s parsha allows itself to be read in the context of our current world and perhaps, most acutely, in the relationship of the Jewish people and the State of Israel to their adversaries and to the world generally.