Our Sages have revealed a deep and profound insight into human nature: אדם נפעל כפי פעולותיו A person’s character is shaped by his actions This means that a person’s day-to-day deeds profoundly affect his character. The 13th century Sefer Hachinuch,…
The month of Adar has begun, and we are commanded to increase our happiness! The Talmud says (Taanit 29a): אמר רב יהודה בריה דרב שמואל בר שילת משמיה דרב: משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה Rabbi Yehuda the son of Rav Shmuel…
The Mishkan (Tabernacle) - the portable sanctuary that accompanied the Jewish people during their 40-year trek in the wilderness - was built with the donations of the Jewish people who donated all of the necessary building materials. The Torah tells…
And Parshat Mishpatim starts in a peculiar way. The Hebrew text (Exodus 21:1) begins with a “ו“, which translates as “And,” a word usually used to connect two ideas or concepts. But this is the beginning of a new portion!…
Yitro, the person for whom this week’s portion is named, should have been the very last person in the world to have a portion in the Torah named for him. After all, he spent most of his life serving idols.…
This Shabbat we read the Torah portion ofבשלח (Beshalach). Denoted שבת שירה (Shabbat Shira),the “Shabbat of the Song,” this portion contains the song that the Jewish people sang to Hashem in appreciation for the salvation that they experienced from the…
The Egyptians have suffered through seven of the ten plagues, and after three more they will send the Jewish people out of Egypt. The time has come to prepare the Jewish people for the holiday of Pesach. They will need…
When Hashem charged Moshe with his mission to take the Jewish people out of Egypt, He told him (Exodus 4:17), (יז) וְאֶת הַמַּטֶּה הַזֶּה תִּקַּח בְּיָדֶךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה בּוֹ אֶת הָאֹתֹת. 17) “And this staff you shall take in your…
This coming Shabbat we begin the Torah’s second book, Shemot. After just a few verses, we learn of Levi’s death at age 137. This noteworthy “statistic” had extraordinary significance, for it marked the beginning of our slavery in Egypt. As…
Yaakov Avinu, the last of the Patriarchs, is at the end of his life. Yet before he leaves this world, he must charge the next generation with their mission to carry forward their illustrious family’s legacy, that of, Avraham, Yitzchak,…