Rav Zachariash’s weekly blog on the parsha
Two Sides to Every “Thank You” וַיַּעַן אַבְרָהָם, וַיֹּאמַר: הִנֵּה-נָא הוֹאַלְתִּי לְדַבֵּר אֶל-אֲדֹנָי, וְאָנֹכִי עָפָר וָאֵפֶר. (בְּרֵאשִׁית יח:כז) 27 And Abraham answered and said: 'Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, who am but dust and ashes. Many times somebody does something for you and in your mind you acknowledge the [...]
וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם, כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו; וַיָּרֶק אֶת-חֲנִיכָיו יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ, שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת, וַיִּרְדֹּף, עַד-דָּן. (בְּרֵאשִׁית יד:יד) And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. (Bereishis 14:14) The Pele Yoetz explains that many [...]
בְּרֵאשִׁית ו:יט וּמִכָּל-הָחַי מִכָּל-בָּשָׂר שְׁנַיִם מִכֹּל, תָּבִיא אֶל הַתֵּבָה לְהַחֲיֹת אִתָּךְ... בְּרֵאשִׁית ז:ב מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה, תִּקַּח-לְךָ... Bereishis 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shall be brought into the ark, to keep them alive with you... 7:2 Of every clean beast you shall take for yourself.... The Torah tells [...]
Regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Hashem commanded Adam Harishon “...not to eat of it; for on the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.” To me, this seems to indicate that this would be an immediate punishment—Adam would take a bite and would drop dead right then and [...]
The Medrash tells us that immediately after Yom Kippur we are supposed to be in a festive mode and that we are to eat with simcha because we can be certain that the process of teshuva was successful. Obviously we understand that there is no guarantee, and there have been many years that klal Yisrael [...]
The Power Of Belief The Medrash tells us that immediately after Yom Kippur we are supposed to be in a festive mode and that we are to eat with simcha because we can be certain that the process of teshuva was successful. Obviously we understand that there is no guarantee, and there have been many [...]
Rabbeinu Yona in Shaarei Teshuva (paragraphs 24 and 25) discusses the components necessary for teshuva (repentance): One must have hachna’a (submissiveness) and shiflus (humility), and must serve Hashem “b’tznaya” (modesty) - and then he explains this in detail. The question is, what does modesty have to do with repentance? When the gemora explains what “acts [...]
You Are Standing today (Devarim 29:9) Chazal ask why is it necessary to mention the obvious that “you are standing here today…”? They answer that being that Klal Yisrael just heard the awesome responsibility of their obligation to keep the mitzvos, Moshe Rabbeinu pointed out “Don’t worry! You are doing fine and you will be [...]
אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם (דְּבָרִים כט:ט) מפני מה הוצרך משה רבינו להצהיר לבני ישראל את המובן מאליו, שהם עומדים היום מול הקב"ה ? עונים חז"ל, שמטרתו היתה לחזק אותם בפרט לאור המשימה הכבירה שעכשיו קיבלו (שמירת כל המצוות). בעמדינו לפני יום הדין, יש מאיתנו שחשים באימת הדין וגודל האחריות המוצבת מולינו. אולי בהכרה זו, אנו נעצרים, קפואים [...]
The Medrash Tanchuma says that Moshe Rabbeinu saw that bikurim would cease to be brought because of the chorbon Beis Hamikdash, and therefore he instituted davening Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv. The obvious question is: What is the connection between bikurim and davening?! There are those who answer as the Mishneh Berurah states: Tefillah must be [...]
