Chanukah II

Chanukah ll תשפא Tonight, Tuesday, December 16, the 1st day of the month (“Rosh Chodesh”) of Tevet, is the sixth night of Chanukah. Jews the world over will be lighting six candles in their menorahs to celebrate the sixth day…

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Chanukah 5781

Chanukah תשפא This coming Thursday night we will light the first Chanukah candle. We will then celebrate Chanukah for eight days, adding a candle each night until there are eight. The Talmud (Shabbat 21b) asks, “מאי חנוכה?” What is Chanukah?…

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Vayishlach 5781

Vayishlach תשפא The Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 2:4) informs us that from before creation, Hashem knew that the Jewish people were destined to endure four exiles. The Midrash derives it from the second verse in the Torah, which says: (ב) וְהָאָרֶץ…

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Parshat Vayetzei 5781

Parshat Vayetzeh תשפא Esav has vowed to kill Yaakov for having stolen his blessing from Yitzchak , so Rivka and Yitzchak decided to send Yaakov to Rivka’s brother Lavan, to escape Esav, and also, to find a wife. As Yaakov…

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Parshat Vayeira 5781

Parshat Vayeira ספר בראשית פרק יח (א) וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו יְדֹוָד בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא ישֵׁב פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל כְּחֹם הַיּוֹם: Genesis 18:1: Hashem appeared to him (Avraham) in the plains of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent…

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Lech Lecha 5781

Lech Lecha תשפא This week’s portion introduces us to our Forefather Avraham. Maimonides (Laws of Idol Worship 1:3) tells us of Avraham’s beginning and his greatness. ג) כיון שנגמל איתן זה התחיל לשוטט בדעתו והוא קטן והתחיל לחשוב ביום ובלילה…

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Parshat Noach 5781

Parshat Noach תשפא Rashi last week began his Torah commentary with Rabbi Yitzchak’s famous query: Why does the Torah commence with a description of Creation? If the Torah’s purpose is to convey to man his obligations in the form of…

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Sukkot 5781

Sukkot תשפא As we progress through the Jewish calendar year, we enter different time zones. As we reach each new time zone, our Sages have given us a tool to take note of the fact that Hashem has granted us…

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