Rav Zachariash’s weekly blog on the parsha
“These are the guidelines that you shall set before them” (Shemos 21:1) In Parshas Beshalach, there is a reference to the mitzvos which were given to bnei Yisrael in Mara. One of those mitzvos was the mitzvah of judging people’s monetary disputes in a court (dinim). Here, right after accepting the Torah, we seemingly are [...]
“Moshe went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed and kissed him and he asked him how he was doing…” (Shemos 18:7) The above verse doesn’t specify whether it was Moshe who bowed to and kissed Yisro, or Yisro who bowed to and kissed Moshe. The midrash proves that Moshe was the one who bowed [...]
יד וְכָל-הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת-הַקּוֹלֹת וְאֶת-הַלַּפִּידִם, וְאֵת קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר, וְאֶת-הָהָר, עָשֵׁן; וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנֻעוּ, וַיַּעַמְדוּ מֵרָחֹק. טו וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, דַּבֵּר-אַתָּה עִמָּנוּ, וְנִשְׁמָעָה; וְאַל-יְדַבֵּר עִמָּנוּ אֱלֹקִים, פֶּן-נָמוּת. טז וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-הָעָם, אַל-תִּירָאוּ, כִּי לְבַעֲבוּר נַסּוֹת אֶתְכֶם, בָּא הָאֱלֹקִים; וּבַעֲבוּר, תִּהְיֶה יִרְאָתוֹ עַל-פְּנֵיכֶם--לְבִלְתִּי תֶחֱטָאו (שמות כ:יד-טז) “All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning…Fear not, for God has [...]
With regard to the Monn, it is written “bread” (Exodus 16:4), and it is written “oil” (Numbers 11:8), and it is written “honey” (Exodus 16:31). How can we reconcile these verses? Rabbi Yosi, son of Rabbi Chanina, said: For the youth it was like bread, for the elderly it was like oil, and for the [...]
“This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.” (Shemos 12:2) The first mitzvah in the Torah that is recorded as being given to Klal Yisrael is the mitzvah of “hachodesh hazeh lachem”. This mitzvah commands Beis Din to hear [...]
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that I may multiply My signs and marvels in the land of Egypt.” (Shemos 7:3) When we are in situations in which we are forced to do something we don’t want to do, we sometimes mutter to ourselves, “If I had my choice about this, I wouldn’t be doing it.” [...]
“He [Moshe] was along the way, at the hotel, Hashem confronted him, and wanted to kill him.” (Bereishis 4:24) Moshe Rabbeinu accepts Hashem’s proposal that he should be the one to take Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt. On the way down to Egypt, he almost gets killed because he did not perform a bris milah [...]
"Assemble and hearken, O sons of Jacob; Hearken to Israel your father." (Bereishis 49:2) I once heard an amazing explanation from a world-renowned speaker on why there are so many different strands of original Judaism? Litvaks. Chasidim. Sefardim. Teimanim. And more! If you take away the ‘spice’, they are all exactly the same. The differences [...]
“…(Yosef) fell on his (Yaakov’s) neck, he wept on his neck a good while.” (Bereishis 46:29) RASHI: “Yaakcov, however, did not fall upon Joseph’s neck nor did he kiss him. Our Rabbis say: the reason was that he was reciting the Shema.” When a person is asked how much of himself he is willing to [...]
And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “…Pharaoh has been told what God is about to do…Pharaoh has been shown what God is about to do.” (41:25 & 41:28) Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (1785–June 9, 1869) points out that it is human nature to always want to be the first to tell over good news, but to shy [...]
