Elul 5781
The Month of Elul Rosh Hashanah, which falls on the 1st day of the month of Tishrei (this year, Monday night, September 6th), marks the beginning of the new year 5782. This counts the years since the world’s creation, which happened on…
The Month of Elul Rosh Hashanah, which falls on the 1st day of the month of Tishrei (this year, Monday night, September 6th), marks the beginning of the new year 5782. This counts the years since the world’s creation, which happened on…
Reeh תשפא A student recently asked me, “There are two major types of social systems, democracy and socialism. What social system does the Torah recommend?” I answered him that the Torah’s social system is neither, as it operates on a different…
Parshat Ekev This week’s portion contains, according to all opinions, the only Torah-mandated ברכה - blessing, namely, the ברכת המזון - Birkat Hamazon, the Grace after meals, which is derived from the verse in (Deuteronomy 8:10): ספר דברים פרק ח י) וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ וּבֵרַכְתָּ אֶת יְדֹוָד…
Vaetchanan תשפא The Talmud (Makot 23b) teaches us that Hashem gave the Jewish people 613 מצות - commandments. דרש רבי שמלאי: שש מאות ושלש עשרה מצות נאמרו לו למשה ...אמר רב המנונא מאי קרא תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה תורה בגימטריא שית מאה…
Tisha B’ Av תשפ"א Last Shabbat, July 10, was Rosh Chodesh Av, the first day of the month of Av. The Code of Jewish Law (551:1) teaches us: א) משנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה; ובר ישראל דאית ליה דינא בהדי כותי, לישתמיט…
Parshat Matot – Masei תשפא It is difficult for us to appreciate the power of our speech since we live in a materialistic world, where actions, which we can see and evaluate, take on greater importance than speech, which seems to…
Parshat Pinchas תשפא This week’s portion, Pinchas, begins with Hashem praising him for his zealous act at the end of last week’s portion, Balak. Pinchas’s conduct appeased Hashem’s anger and stopped the plague that had begun. Hashem rewarded Pinchas with His covenant of…
Balak תשפא This week’s portion, Balak, introduces us to בלעם - Bilaam, history’s only legitimate non-Jewish prophet. The information he conveyed via his prophecy was straight from Hashem. It is remarkable to know that Bilaam’s prophecy was the same high-level prophecy as Moshe Rabbeinu’s!…
Parshat Chukat תשפא In this week’s portion’s final two chapters , the Jewish nation is attacked by the world’s two most powerful leaders, Sichon, King of the Emori, and Og, king of Bashan, whom the Jews handily defeat. When the Jewish people merely asked Sichon…
Parshat Korach תשפא This week’s portion, Korach, details the events of Korach’s (and his 253 compatriots) rebellion, against Moshe and Aharon (Numbers 16:1,2): א) וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח בֶּן יִצְהָר בֶּן קְהָת בֶּן לֵוִי וְדָתָן וַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב וְאוֹן בֶּן פֶּלֶת בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן…