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Mordechai Silverstein

Mordechai Silverstein

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

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The completion of the work on the mishkan – the Tabernacle is marked in Parshat Naso, using language reminiscent of the language used for God’s...

31.05.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

The Worldly-Wise Torah

The theophany or revelation at Sinai is the foundational event in Jewish life. It shapes Jewish identity both through it stories and even more...

23.05.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Open Your Eyes to Gratitude

Sefer Bemidbar, the Book of Numbers, presents two very different pictures of the Children of Israel’s desert experience. It opens with an orderly,...

16.05.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

It Doesn’t Hurt to Be Reminded

The Torah has a very realistic view of the socio-economic conditions facing society and attempts to impose certain rules of fairness to make societal...

11.05.2023 50

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

God Loves His Creatures’ Dignity

And the Lord said to Moshe, ‘Say to the priests, the sons of Aharon, and say to them, ‘For no dead person among his kin shall he be defiled,...

02.05.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Shaping a Livable Jewish Future

Parshat Kedoshim is demanding. It obliges us to be holy by commanding a panoply of mitzvot. These commandments, known as the “Holiness Code”...

24.04.2023 8

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Sharing Responsiblity for Revelation

On the face of it, the entire section of Parshiyot Tazriah-Metzorah, which deals with “metzora” – a group of mysterious ailments and how to...

20.04.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

The Holiday of Wonder

Throughout the ages, rabbinic sages have been particularly fond of puns and wordplays. They found inspiration in places which other people overlooked....

03.04.2023 3

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

The Search for Connection

The significance of the sacrificial order is hard for moderns to comprehend, but the very fact that the sages preached of its importance hundreds of...

28.03.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Every Deed Plants a Seed

If the religious significance of the sacrificial order, in and of itself, is difficult for most moderns to fathom, the importance of the Korban Hatat...

22.03.2023 6

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

The True Mantle of Leadership

The Mishkan (Tabernacle) was the most significant religious project of the desert trek. It involved not only creating a portable sacred center for the...

14.03.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

The choice is ours

And Aharon said to them: Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me. And all the...

07.03.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Channeling One’s Spiritual Energies

The placement of Parshiyot Terumah and Titzaveh, which contain both plans for the building of the Mishkan (the Sanctuary in the desert), its...

22.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Kindness Builds God’s World

לזכר אפרים יצחק יעקבסון ז”ל – איש תורה ומעשה The role of Parshat Mishpatim in the rabbinic tradition points to...

14.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Bringing Life to God’s Message

There are a number of factors which led the rabbinic sages to interpret the words of Torah in a manner which veers from the plain meaning (pshat) of...

07.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

It’s All for the Good

Parshat Beshallah is made up of two parts. The first part sings the glories of God’s triumphant victory over the children of Israel’s Egyptian...

31.01.2023 5

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

The Price of Perpetuity

Parshat Bo frames not only the events of the redemption of the children of Israel in real time (Pesah Mitzrayim); it also delineates its observance...

24.01.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Faith Requires Forsight 

Parshat Shmot ends on a note of despair. Pharoah not only refused Moshe’s admonition to release the children of Israel, but also made their workload...

17.01.2023 30

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Breaking the Cycle of Déjà Vu All Over Again

One could easily read the story of Yaakov and his family’s descent into Egypt and their subsequent enslavement as a typological allegory, namely, a...

10.01.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

The Truth is in the Punchline

Parshat Vayehi, almost in its entirety, deals with Yaakov’s death. When his time comes, after he has finished blessing his sons, the progenitors of...

03.01.2023 30

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Bringing out the Inner Yosef

Yaakov’s life was filled with tragedy and insecurity. His faith was tested and stretched to its limits. When his sons returned from Egypt with news...

27.12.2022 50

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

It’s Not Just About Dreams

No biblical character is more associated with dreams than Yosef. He was a dreamer and an interpreter of dreams and at almost every juncture in his...

20.12.2022 7

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

From Tribulation to Triumph

Yosef seems to fall prey to all sorts of troubles. Yet, the sages have singled out one “trial”, in particular, which served to both transform...

13.12.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Take a Lesson from Yaakov – Never Give Up

Yaakov’s wrestling match with the angel defined him. He would forever after be known as Yisrael – the one “who wrestled with God”. His...

06.12.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

Sisterly love, a model for divine mercy

The interaction between Rachel and Leah, the two sisters who became Yaakov’s wives was not simple. Yaakov fell in love with the younger of the two,...

29.11.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

A Larger Than Life Conflict

Rivka, like others of the matriarchs, was barren. Through prayer, she miraculously conceived, but hers was not to be an ordinary pregnancy, nor were...

22.11.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Mordechai Silverstein

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