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The Torah starts with the details of the six days of Creation. On the first four days, God created light, water, dry land, vegetation, the sun, the moon and the…

Noach is introduced as a righteous man who “walked with God”. He had three sons, Shem, Cham and Yefet. The people have become thieving and corrupt. Noach is told by…

God appeared to Avraham (at this stage still called Avram), telling him to leave his homeland, and travel to a land “that God would show him”, where he would flourish…

Shortly after Avraham’s brit milah (circumcision), God appeared to him. Avraham greets three ‘men’ (in fact, angels) and serves them a fine meal. One of them tells Avraham that Sarah…

Sarah died aged 127, in Hebron. After eulogising Sarah, Avraham negotiated with the head of the local Hittites, Efron, in order to purchase a burial plot for Sarah, the Cave…

Yitzchak, aged 60, prayed for his wife Rivka to have a child. Rivka conceived twins and is told prophetically that the two children will father two separate nations. Esav is…

On Yaakov’s journey to Charan, he fell asleep and dreamt of a ladder resting on the ground and reaching up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. God is at…

Yaakov sent angels to inform his brother Esav that he is returning home, after decades away. Yaakov’s message offered Esav the chance to make peace, while conveying Yaakov’s own strength.…

Yaakov settled in the Land of Cana’an (Israel). His son with Rachel, Yosef, brought negative reports to him about the sons of Leah, his half-brothers. Yaakov gave Yosef a woollen…

Pharaoh dreamt that he was by the River Nile, where seven healthy cows emerge. Seven lean cows followed them out of the river and consumed them. Pharaoh then dreamt about…

22 years after Yosef, they faced the prospect of their father Yaakov ‘losing’ another one of his sons, Binyamin. Yehuda approached Yosef, recounting Yosef’s demand to see Binyamin and Yaakov’s…

Yaakov had been in Egypt for 17 years and was 147 years old. Knowing that he would soon die, he asked Yosef to take an oath to bury him in…

The Torah names the sons of Yaakov who came down to Egypt. Yosef’s death is recorded again. His brothers also died. The nation increased in number. A new Pharaoh came…

God reassured Moshe that He will keep His promise to the forefathers to bring the nation into the Land of Cana’an (Israel). God heard the crying out of the enslaved…

After the first seven plagues, Moshe and Aharon again warned Pharaoh to let the nation go, lest Egypt suffer an eighth plague. Pharaoh’s advisors encouraged him to agree. However, he…

After Pharaoh sent the Israelites out of Egypt, God did not lead them straight through the land of the Philistines towards Cana’an (Israel), but rather towards the Sea of Reeds.…

Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law and Midianite priest, heard about the miraculous Exodus from Egypt. He came to meet Moshe in the desert, together with his daughter Tziporah (Moshe’s wife) and Moshe’s…

The sidra contains many mitzvot, of which a selection has been included here. It starts with the laws of a Jewish servant. He is to work for six years, after…

God told Moshe to ask the Jews for voluntary offerings towards the construction and functioning of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The materials needed are gold, silver and copper; turquoise, purple and…

God told Moshe to instruct the people to bring pure, pressed olive oil for lighting the Menorah in the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Aharon and his sons take charge of setting up…

God instructs Moshe to take a census. Instead of counting people, each man over 20 gave a half shekel coin towards the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle); the census figure…

Moshe gathered the nation. He instructed them to keep Shabbat, mentioning specifically the prohibition to kindle a fire. He then asked them to volunteer the materials needed for the construction…

The Torah lists the overall weight of gold, silver and copper used in building the Mishkan. The amount of half-shekel silver coins donated formed the basis of a census of…

The Book of Vayikra starts by detailing the olah (elevation) offering. One who brought an offering had to lay their hands upon it (semicha). The shechita (slaughter) of the animal…

The Torah adds new details about the offerings that were discussed in last week’s sedrah. The olah (elevation) offering could be left burning on the mizbeach (altar) throughout the night.…

The sedrah begins almost a year after the Exodus from Egypt, on Rosh Chodesh Nisan. After seven days of inaugurating the Mishkan (Tabernacle), Moshe instructed Aharon to bring two special…

After childbirth, a woman would wait several weeks before bringing an elevation offering (olah) and a sin offering (chatat). A baby boy is circumcised on the eighth day after birth,…

The Torah details the process through which a metzora – someone afflicted with the skin disease tzara’at – purified him/herself after the period of isolation and the healing of the…

God spoke to Moshe after the death of two of Aharon’s sons (detailed in parashat Shemini). Moshe was told to warn Aharon, the Kohen Gadol, not to enter the Holy…

Kedoshim contains many mitzvot, a selection of which has been included here. We are commanded to revere our parents and to observe Shabbat. It is prohibited to worship and make…

God instructed Moshe to tell the Kohanim not to come into contact with a corpse, with the exception of when burying specific close relatives. They are not allowed to shave…

God instructed Moshe to tell the nation about the mitzvot of Shemitah. Every seventh year, the Land is ‘rested’ and no agricultural work is permitted. It is also forbidden to…

God promised that if we keep His laws, then He will provide rain, the Land will give plenty of produce and we will not suffer any physical threat from enemies.…

On Rosh Chodesh of the second month after the Exodus from Egypt, God instructed Moshe and Aharon to take a census of men above the age of 20. The leader…

The Torah now details the same for the descendants of Levi’s other two sons, Gershon and Merari. A census was taken of each of these three families, counting men aged…

God told Moshe to instruct Aharon, the Kohen Gadol, to light the Menorah every day in the Mishkan (Tabernacle). God told Moshe to appoint the Levi’im to their service in…

God told Moshe to send spies into Cana’an (later the Land of Israel), one from each tribe. The names of the spies were listed. One of them is Hoshea, whose…

Korach, from the tribe of Levi, conspired with Datan, Aviram and On from the tribe of Reuven. They gathered together 250 leading Israelites and challenged Moshe and Aharon’s rights to…

God told Moshe and Aharon to teach the nation the laws of the Red Heifer (Parah Adumah). The unblemished animal, which has never had a yoke upon it, was to…

Balak, the king of Moab, having seen that the Israelites defeated the Emorites, was afraid that they would plot against him. Balak sent emissaries to Midian, to Bilaam the son…

God told Moshe that Pinchas, Aharon’s grandson, should become a Kohen in recognition of his righteous actions in stopping the public display of immorality described at the end of last…

This sidra begins with discussing the laws of verbal vows. A person who obligates themselves with a vow is required to fulfill it. Under certain circumstances, a husband or father…

The Torah recounts the 42 journeys of the Jews in the desert. God instructed the Jewish people to wipe out all Canaan’s inhabitants and get rid of their idols after…

In the 40th year after leaving Egypt, towards the end of his life, Moshe gathered the nation together and rebuked them, alluding to the many places where they made mistakes…

Moshe recalled that after defeating Sichon and Og in battle (see Devarim 2:31- 3:11), he prayed to be allowed to enter the Land of Cana’an. God refused Moshe’s request, allowing…

Moshe encouraged the Israelites to keep God’s commandments. This will allow them to prosper in the Land and to be the most blessed of peoples. In the same way that…

Moshe told the nation to “see” that they have the choice between “a blessing and a curse”, which will be determined by whether or not they listen to God’s commandments.…

Judges and officers must be appointed in all cities. Judges must endeavour to avoid showing favour to any party in a court case. One may not erect even a single…

Ki Teitzei contains many mitzvot, a selection of which has been included here. It starts with the laws of the ‘female captive’ and her potential marriage to a soldier in…

Once the nation has entered the Land of Israel, there is a mitzvah for a farmer to take the first fruits of the new harvest and place them in a…