The Request Of A Soldier Who Lost A Leg
Let us hope that children from Be’eri, Sderot, and Kfar Aza can gain strength from his story. This is not only a personal story of Yisrael, the orphaned child. This is the story of the nation of Israel.
Stop The Clock
How, we are often asked, do we manage to sit idle for 24 hours on Shabbos without going stir crazy? Is it not human nature to be workaholics?
The Risks Of Replacement Culture
The classroom and home are not places from breaking down personalities only in order to build them up to specification. It is in these gentler spaces that seeds are planted, shoots watered, sunned, and sheltered in turn, where tall trees are eventually to be found and enjoyed.
Fiery Enthusiam
The question is why is it considered as if the Nesi’im were indifferent? After all, if the Jewish people would only have come forth with half the money or gold that was necessary, the Nesi’im were ready to generously contribute the other half.
The Impending Culmination Of The Work Of Creation
The Rebbe stresses that part of the nature of tzimtzum – the expression of Divine Will whereby Hashem makes it possible for some aspect of Himself to be present in every one of His creations – is that in recognizing and acknowledging the G-dliness in our material world, we give strength to these Divine aspects in the world as well as in ourselves.
Esther’s Story
We can be certain that it was not a quest for fame that motivated Esther HaMalka. One explanation of Esther’s desire for the accounts of Purim to be included in the Scriptures is that she recognized the timeless lessons of the story of Purim.
Vayaq’hel: Actualizing The Mishkan
If Dan is the extreme expression of Yosef in the same way that Shimon is of Yehuda, what was the importance of appointing tribesmen of Yehuda and Dan to lead the construction of the Mishkan?
Building The Mishkan: Plan A And Plan B – Parshat Vayakhel
The sefer Ohel Yehoshua explains that in fact Hashem had two distinct plans for building the Mishkan. The original plan preceded the sin of the Golden Calf, after which a Plan B went into effect as a result of the Am Yisrael’s sin.
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh – Parshat Ki Tisa
So, obviously, Hashem does not have a face and all the above descriptions are simply metaphors to simplify concepts to enable our human intellect to understand, even though the true reality is beyond our comprehension.
Ki Tisa: Crisis Of The Golden Calf
A mistake that nearly had catastrophic results for the entire people of Israel ultimately revealed Moshe's true greatness as a national leader.
The Mishkan As A Microcosm Of The Universe
The material world is everything outside of the Mishkan, as the Mishkan is a means for us to pursue transcendence, and for those who have been properly designated to traverse all of these worlds.
The Benefits of the Evil Amongst Us
Exposure to evil prevents us from an illusion of pleasant stability--and stability is the very thing that prevents the good from getting better.
A Living Sefer Torah
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Taanis) speaks of respecting a physician before he is needed, so that when the person requires the services of a doctor, he will find one. It can be compared to honoring Hashem, the healer of all flesh, before one requires healing for his affliction.
Greatly Improving Our Lives Through Better Prayer
The saintly Shaloh HaKodesh, of blessed memory, writes that you could break people down into two distinct groups. There are those who when they pray, they pray to Hashem; and when they bless, they bless Hashem. Then there are those who pray but Hashem is nowhere in their thoughts, and when they bless they are not focusing on blessing anyone.
Clothes of Atonement – Parshat Tetzave
Eight very different types of sins are atoned for by the Kohen's vestments.
True Beauty
The Mishkan’s construction is described at length, down to the finest detail. What, in fact, is the importance of these small details?
The Torah’s Atomic Weapon
The incense that burned on this altar has always attracted special interest for its unusual life-giving properties
Parshas Tetzaveh: From Death to Life
Was it not enough for Aharon to have the Jewish people on his heart? Why the shoulders too?
Pomegranates And Bells
The bells, which have sound, allude to the voices of Torah; the pomegranates allude to speech which should be silenced, either because it is inappropriate or it is lashon hara.
Torah Shorts: Parshat Tetzaveh: Clothes Make the Saint, Sometimes
I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. -Henry David Thoreau
Clothing For The Soul
The worst violations of Torah law, corresponding to defects in the underlying character of the perpetrator, are three crimes due to which the first Beit HaMikdash was destroyed and which Rambam famously decreed one must be martyred for rather than violate: wanton bloodshed (i.e., murder), fornication, and idolatry.
Revitalizing Our Prayers (Part Twenty-Six)
The Olas Tamid adds that we should daven to be spared from death by the sword and by wild animals. We are taught in Masechtas Derech Eretz Zuta, in the chapter of peace, that if Hashem didn’t bless the world with peace we would be ravaged by the sword and by animals.
Tetzave: The Purpose Of The Kohanim
By submerging individual identity into the collective Hebrew nation, the kohanim work to cleanse the children of Israel from all transgressions and to inspire the people with a powerful show of kedusha.
Urim Ve’Tumim: The Heavenly Code
There are different opinions on how the Kohen Gadol would receive the answer to the question. According to one opinion, the letters on the stones were illuminated forming the words of the answer. According to another, the letters stood out and became extruded.
Three Types of Tzedaka – Parshat Teruma
Gold, silver and copper.
And Your Children Will Return To Their Borders
They are a reminder that everything can suddenly be turned upside down – and turn out for the best.
T’ruma: Mystery Of The Kruvim
What can the Mishkan teach us about the ways Divine revelation is channeled into our world?
The Symbolism of Incompleteness and its Truth
The measure of things...
The Mishkan As A Living Organism
There are only ever very few individuals who rise to this level, and even when all of Israel are serving Hashem faithfully and achieving our individual tasks, most people at best are just sparks of light and not enough to maintain an ongoing presence of Divine imbuement.
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