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Mordechai Silverstein

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Sep 22, 2026, 12:55 PM

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles

Hag HaSukkot, the festival of Sukkot, is popularly known for two mitzvot: the sukkah and the lulav and etrog. This year, because the first day of Sukkot falls on Shabbat, the sukkah takes our exclusive attention: In sukkot (huts) you...

Sep 17, 2026, 2:03 PM

The Day That Redeems

Time is of the essence, and the essence is time. In our day-to-day lives, we experience time as linear. What we do is done, and we must live with the consequences of our actions. When we have done what...

Sep 15, 2026, 6:26 AM

God’s Fate Is In Your Hands

In Shirat Haazinu, or, as it is otherwise known, Shirat Moshe, Moshe describes the future rebellions of the children of Israel against God. Before turning to this subject, however, he presents a summary of God’s relationship with His people,...

Sep 8, 2026, 1:44 PM

We Never Lost It

The genius of the rabbinic sages lay not only in their encyclopedic knowledge of the Tanakh but also in their extraordinary ability to read its texts imaginatively, drawing from them insights that spoke to their own lives and circumstances....

Sep 1, 2026, 8:14 AM

Live and Let Live

Unlike most of us, Moshe had a handle on life’s greatest uncertainty—death. Once God decreed that Moshe would not enter the Land, he knew, more or less, when his life would end. For the rest of us, death remains...

Aug 25, 2026, 6:56 AM

You Make Sinai Happen!

The Children of Israel are on the cusp of entering the land after a forty-year journey through the wilderness. Moshe’s final message to his people is intended to carry them through the ages, inspiring them to embrace their identity...

Aug 18, 2026, 10:21 AM

How To Make Yourself Into a Better Person

The English name of Sefer Devarim, Deuteronomy, derives from the Greek and means “repetition of the law.” The fact that many of the laws are repeated in Devarim, sometimes with significant variations in language and detail, provided the sages...

Aug 11, 2026, 10:40 AM

Making Justice Real

The Jewish tradition has always been deeply concerned with the pursuit of justice (tzedek), as expressed so powerfully in the opening of Parshat Shoftim: “Justice, justice shall you pursue (tzedek, tzedek tirdof), that you may thrive and occupy the land...

Aug 4, 2026, 5:52 AM

How To Be God’s Children

The opening verses of Deuteronomy 14 develop the idea that the children of Israel are God's children. As such, God commands that His people, like the kohanim (priests), must not deface themselves in mourning for the dead: You are children...

Jul 28, 2026, 10:35 AM

A Little Bit A Lot

The second word of the parashah—ekev, from which the portion takes its name, seems innocuous enough. At first glance, it simply means "as a result of" or "because." Yet, as is often the case in the Torah, this seemingly...

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About Me

Mordechai Silverstein is a teacher of Torah who has lived in Jerusalem for over 30 years. He specializes in helping people build personalized Torah study programs.