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 ...

An analysis of the Torah’s approach to war reveals that war is only undertaken as a last resort. Consider the opening verse in the section dealing with war, “When you come close to a city to fight ...

This week’s Torah reading, Parshat Shoftim, teaches “Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof…Justice and Righteousness shall you pursue, so that you may live and possess the land HaShem (the God of Israel) your God is ...

It happened again, that Jewish synchronicity convergence that follows me around. First I wandered around a Jewish cemetery, only to watch an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which Larry David ...

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 ...

The power of the legal system is in many ways the closest humans can come to godliness. It is through the rule of law that humans create order out of chaos, rein in the powerful from abusing the weak, ...

Authority, by design, entrusts power to individuals or a body of individuals, placing the “right” of leadership and decision-making into a select space. Structures are important. They control the ...

Parshat Shoftim contains the commandment [Chapter 20 Verse 19]: “When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ...

If you besiege a city for many days, to wage war against it in order to capture it, you must not destroy its fruit trees by wielding an ax against them… ~ Deuteronomy 20:19 tearing out or cutting down ...

The Parsha begins with G-d?s commandment to the Jewish people to establish a judicial system that is to uphold the highest principles of justice, morality and fairness. The Torah says, ?Judges and ...