Torah from Sinai

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  Friday, September 5, 2025 / 12 Elul 5785
  These last few weeks before the New Year are an opportunity: An opportunity to reconnect with the most essential and best parts of our self, to reconnect with love for God and the world, our community, our friends, and our family. But how? A Midrash [Midrash Rabba 17:7 – a collection of sermons and comments by the ancient Rabbis] points out that there is ‘not a thing in the world in connection with which God did not charge Israel with some commandment’. Indeed, Maimonides contends that this week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitze, contains 72 mitzvot, which is more than any other portion in the Torah. The Midrash highlights how God instructs us on everything from how we dress and harvest our fields and build our houses to the way in which we treat our neighbors, make war, offer loans and pay wages; the way to collect eggs is covered, as is the delicate subject of toilet hygiene. Truly, we can make everything we do into a mitzvah.