A Hebrew leader must embody the aspirations of his people to the extent that he becomes a microcosm of the entire nation of Israel and his personal identity is absorbed into that of the national ...

Our guest this week is Rabbi Lester Bronstein, leader of the Bet Am Shalom congregation in White Plains, NY. Rabbi Bronstein, who holds a Bachelor's degree from Yale University and a Master's in ...

Rabbi Elaine S. Zecher is Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel of Boston. She has served the congregation since 1990 and was the first female rabbi in the history of Temple Israel. Rabbi Zecher’s work ...

The Kohanim and Leviim did not have a share in the Land, it was therefore up to the other tribes to provide for them. In Parshat Shoftim we read about a few of these gifts that are given to the Kohen ...

Parashah Shoftim (“Judges”), found in Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9, emphasizes the foundational principles of justice and ethical leadership in Jewish law. Moses instructs the Israelites to establish fair ...

A true leader is one who first and foremost rules over himself and his emotions. A person who can be overtaken by negative emotions cannot serve as a leader. In the weekly Torah portion Shoftim, the ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

Rabbi Berel Wein zts"l, who passed away two weeks ago on Shabbat, sent Torah thoughts on the weekly portion to Arutz Sheva for many years. Below are his thoughts on this week's portion, as applicable ...

Each week The Arty Semite connects the Torah reading — however tenuously — with a classic work of rock ‘n’ roll. This week’s parsha, Shoftim, deals with the setting up of a legal system, a monarchy ...

Mesorah is commonly associated with the transmission of Torah. For some, it is a meta-halachic concept: regardless of what the halachah (Jewish law) says, there is a past tradition that must not be ...

The Torah’s sympathetic attitude toward ecology surfaces in a law legislating conduct during war. “When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it, to seize it, do not destroy its trees ...