Realistic Expectations
> ...עִם-לָבָן גַּרְתִּי...וַיְהִי-לִי שׁוֹר וַחֲמוֹר, צֹאן וְעֶבֶד וְשִׁפְחָה... (בְּרֵאשִׁית לב:ה-ו) ...I have dwelled with Laban...And I have oxen, and donkeys and flocks, and men-servants and maid-servants…(Bereishis 32:5-6) Rashi comments that Yaakov said “I have oxen, donkeys...” to show Esav that the brochos that their father Yitzchak gave to Yaakov have not [...]
The Long and Short of It
וַיַּעֲבֹד יַעֲקֹב בְּרָחֵל, שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים; וַיִּהְיוּ בְעֵינָיו כְּיָמִים אֲחָדִים, בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ אֹתָהּ. (בְּרֵאשִׁית כט:כ) And Jacob worked seven years for Rochel; and they seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her. (Bereishis 29:20) The Torah tells us that the seven year wait until he could [...]
Torah from Within or From Without?
The story is told about a Shul board meeting held to discuss whether their Rabbi was fit to continue in his position. It seems that the Rabbi was forever studying, and the members of the board concluded that his knowledge must be inadequate, and it was therefore beneath the shul’s [...]
What is REALLY Heavenly?
וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק, הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-רִבְקָה וַתְּהִי-לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה, וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ; (בְּרֵאשִׁית כד:סז) And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah; he married Rivka and she became his wife; and he loved her. (Bereishis 24:67) The Torah tells us that Eliezer met Yitzchak in the field upon his [...]
Two Sides to Every “Thank You”
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 [...]
A Wake up Call From A Friend
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 [...]
No Pain, No Gain
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 [...]
Resolve or Dissolve
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 [...]
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 [...]
The Power Of Belief
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, [...]
Empowerment by G-d is Truly Humbling
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 [...]
You Are Standing
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 [...]
אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם
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 [...]
First Things First
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 [...]
…אבל לפני שנתחיל
במדרש תנחומא מצאנו רעיון מענין. מובא שם שמשה רבינו צפה ברוח הקודש שעתיד בית המקדש להיחרב, וכתוצאה מכך ייפסקו הביכורים. לשם כך, אומר המדרש, תיקן משה רבינו את שלשת התפילות של היום. אפילו אם נשים בצד את הגמרא בברכות שמתלבטת גם למקורם של התפילות – ומסיקה שנתקנו כנגד הקרבנות שבטלו [...]
A Punch in the Stomach vs. Punch in the Stomach
...a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of Hashem...because of the fact that they did not greet you with bread and water on the road when you were leaving Egypt; and because he hired against you Bilaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse you. (Devarim [...]
שיקולים בתקציב
לֹא-יָבֹא עַמּוֹנִי וּמוֹאָבִי, בִּקְהַל ה'...עַל-דְּבַר אֲשֶׁר לֹא-קִדְּמוּ אֶתְכֶם, בַּלֶּחֶם וּבַמַּיִם, בַּדֶּרֶךְ, בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם; וַאֲשֶׁר שָׂכַר עָלֶיךָ אֶת-בִּלְעָם בֶּן-בְּעוֹר, מִפְּתוֹר אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם--לְקַלְלֶךָּ. (דברים כג:ד-ה) הפסוק מביא שתי סיבות לסירוב קבלתם של מואבים ועמונים לתוך קהל ד'. המגיד מדובנא שואל את הקושיה המתבקשת על שני חסרונות אלו. למה מתחיל הפסוק עם "חטא" [...]
Unquestionable Faith, Unquestionable Uncertainty
תָּמִים תִּהְיֶה, עִם ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ (דברים יח:יג) Thou shalt be whole-hearted with the LORD thy G-d (Devarim 18:13) The Torah demands of us to have simple faith in what HaKadosh Baruch Hu does. We live in a time when people find it difficult to trust one another in all matters [...]