Parshat Shoftim (Dvarim 16:18) opens with the following words: Judges and officers shall you appoint in all of your gates- which HaShem your God gives you- for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. In Biblical days, the gate was not...
In Parshat Shoftim (Dvarim 20:19-20) we learn about the prohibition of “Bal Tashchit” not to destroy things for no reason: If you besiege a city many days to wage war against it to capture it, do not harm any of its trees by chopping it with an ax,...
Sponsored by Marc Futterman in memory of Stan Futterman on his third yahrzeit Since Israel is going back to the voting booths soon, it is a good time to brush up on our knowledge of women’s suffrage in Israel. In Parshat Shoftim (Devarim 17:14-20) we learn...
Sponsored by Sharona Halickman- Celebrating 17 years of Aliya! In Parshat Shoftim (Dvarim 17:14-15) we learn about the mitzvah of appointing a king: When you arrive in the Land that HaShem, your God is giving you and inherit it and live in it and you say,...
Dedicated in memory of my grandmother, Reva Margolin z”l on her 24th yahrzeit. Grandma Reva’s love of Torah study and commitment to the State of Israel inspired us to found Torat Reva Yerushalayim fifteen years ago. In Parshat Shoftim, Dvarim 17:14-15...
In Parshat Shoftim, Dvarim 19:8, we read about the expansion of Israel’s borders during the final redemption: When HaShem, your God, expands (yarchiv) your borders, in accordance with his oath to your forefathers, and He gives you the entire land that He...
Sponsored by the Halickman family in honor of the upcoming wedding of Rivi Weisman and Alec Kholodenko In Parshat Shoftim (Dvarim 19:14) we read: “Do not move a boundary of your neighbor, which the early ones marked out in your inheritance, which you...
In Parshat Shoftim (Dvarim 20:19-20) we read: If you besiege a city many days to wage war against it to capture it, do not harm any of its trees by chopping it with an ax, because you eat from it you are not to cut it down; For, is the tree of the field a person to...
In Parshat Shoftim, Dvarim 18:9-13 we are clearly commanded: “When you come to the land which the Lord your God gives you, do not learn to perpetrate the abominations of those nations. There must not be found among you anyone who passes his son or daughter...
In Parshat Shoftim, Devarim 20:1-4 we read: “When you go to war against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot, people who outnumber you; do not be afraid of them, for God is with you, He who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Now, as you near the...
Sponsored by Sharona & Josh Halickman in Honor of Binyamin Kunstler’s Bar Mitzvah In Parshat Shoftim , Devarim 16:18-20 we read: “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all of your gates, which HaShem your God shall give you, throughout...
In Parshat Shoftim (Devarim 17:8-10) we read: “If a matter of law is hidden from you- between blood and blood, between decision and decision, or between leprosy and leprosy matters under dispute in your city; you shall rise and ascend to the place that...
In Parshat Shoftim, Devarim 20:1-4 we read: When you go out to battle against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot- a people more numerous than you- you shall not fear them, for Hashem, your God , is with you, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt....
In Parhsat Shoftim, Devarim 18:4 we read: “The first portion of your grain, your wine and your olive oil and the first of the shearing of your sheep are you to give him (the Kohen). Rashi points out that this pasuk refers to the Teruma offering. We learn in the...
In Parshat Shoftim, Devarim 17:14-20 we learn about the fact that if one is choosing a king it must be done in the proper Halachic framework: “When you come to the Land that Hashem your God gives you, and possess it, and settle in it and you will say,...
Parshat Shoftim begins with the words “Shoftim (judges) and Shotrim (police officers) you shall appoint for yourself in all of your cities that HaShem your God is giving you for your tribes; who will judge the people ‘mishpat tzedek’, righteous...
Parshat Shoftim, Devarim 20:10 states: “When you near a city to do battle against it, you are to offer it peace”. According to Ramban, the call for peace refers both to “milchemet reshut”, a permissible war, as well as to “milchemet...
In Parshat Shoftim (Devarim 16:18), the Jewish people are commanded to appoint judges who will judge the people with righteous judgement (tzedek). In sentences 19-20 they are told: “Do not pervert justice; do not display favoritism; and do not accept bribery,...
SPONSORED IN HONOR OF THE BAT MITZVAH OF MYRNA HALICKMAN FROM HER LOVING FAMILY: MEL, SHARONA, JOSH, DOV BER, MOSHE NACHSHON, AMY AND ISAAC In Parshat Shoftim, Dvarim 18:9-10 it says “When you are entering the land that God is giving you, do not lean to...