Torah Study Is Not Like Calculus
When we think this Shavuos about the revelation at Sinai, let’s remember that the Torah was given surprisingly in the midst of billowing smoke and blackness.
Between Man & Wife – Parshat Nasso
That HaShem forgoes His Honor for the sake of making peace between man and wife comes to teach us the importance of humbling our own egos for the sake of making our relationships work.
Everyone Matters!
Even within large groups, or even within an entire nation, each individual has a special place and a unique mission. Each person is important.
TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Bamidbar: The Peace of all Sums
The multitude which is not brought to act as a unity, is confusion. That unity which has not its origin in the multitude is tyranny. -Blaise Pascal
Utter Refutation Of Wrong Doctrines
Every mitzvah you perform heals some spiritual malaise that you might not even know you were suffering from.
What We Learn From The Ohr HaChaim
It is every individual’s obligation to toil in Torah so that he can soar even higher than the angels.
The Right Way To Do Our Mitzvos
We should train ourselves to look forward to doing our mitzvos. The premier example of this attitude is the mitzvah of sefira. That on a national level we demonstrate in unison an excited countdown towards Torah.
A People’s Army – Parshat Bamidbar
A people's army is necessary for Israel to fulfill the Divine commandment of sovereignty over our land.
Neta’s Triumph
Rabbi Greenblatt remembers that the rav stood in tallit and tefillin, looked him in the eyes, and gave him a blessing that he should become a talmid chacham and merit to live a long life. The second blessing materialized, he smiled, I hope the first did, too.
Bad Statistics – Bechukotai
Statistics seemingly is the human species’ greatest defense mechanism. It allows us to live “normal” lives of stability and security.
Redeem The Land
Yirmiyahu knows that Hashem is all-powerful and that He is not limited by geopolitical and military realities. If Hashem wishes to reverse the process of conquest and cancel the exile, it is within His power to do so.
TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Bechukotai: Wandering Aimfully
It is the first of all problems for a man to find out what kind of work he is to do in this universe. -Thomas Carlyle
The Blessings Of Shemittah
The Doresh Tzion explains that Eretz Yisrael is acquired by the Jewish nation only in the merit of the Torah that was given at Har Sinai. If they abandon the ways of the Torah, then their entitlement to Eretz Yisrael is withdrawn as well.
The Supremacy Of Torah
You have two people who spent their Sunday night from 8 to 9 p.m. One administered the Heimlich maneuver and saved a person from choking and another person attended the Daf Yomi. In the scales of merit, it is the latter person who comes out on top.
Pennies from Heaven – Behar
If we had Har Sinai today, the contemporary form of the mitzvah of Shemittah would not apply to farmers, but to computer engineers, doctors, graphics artists, lawyers, stockbrokers and businessmen.
Counting Steps To Greatness
Man is a synthesis of his nefesh habahamis (the animal soul), which has physical needs, and his G-dly soul (nefesh haElokis). Man’s mission is to elevate his nefesh habahamis to function in the realm of his nefesh haElokis.
Our Brother
We are accustomed to transitioning from the sadness of Memorial Day to the joy of Independence Day, but how do we transition in the opposite direction, from independence to mourning?
The Kohanim Who Are Levi’im
The Arizal teaches that the firstborn ought to have had the priesthood by right, except that Kayin abused this privilege and it was revoked from him as a result of his grave transgression.
Uncovering a Lost Secret – Emor
Parallel to the technical, scientific research I discovered many realities that are not intuitively apparent, but when you dig deeper, you begin to truly appreciate.
The Lethal Challenge of Learning Torah from Others
The pernicious difficulty of keeping self-love in check and not having it warp the way in which we see others is brought to our attention in the story of R. Elazar
Where Should I Sit in Shul?
Rabbi Weiss: The Hebrew word ‘leitz’ is made up of a lamed and a tzadik which means ‘learned’ and righteous’ for the scoffer thinks that he knows better and that he is really in the right.
Mitzvos For Hashem Alone
During those years, many who came to America had no interest in continuing the sacred Torah traditions. R’ Yaakov Yosef dedicated his life to bringing back many who had fallen into a life of sin.
The Next Stage – Yom HaAtzmaut
The fifth of Iyar marks not only Israel's victory against England but also the day we fulfilled the collective mitzvah of sovereignty over our homeland for the first time in nearly 2,000 years.
Servants Without A Master
Again and again Yechezkel recounts all of the miracles Hashem has performed throughout history for His people and all of the ways in which they betrayed Him.
What Did You Take From Pesach?
Don't say the holiday is over and done, but that the holiday has given us something more.
Two By Two – Kedoshim
If someone can overcome and surpass their natural inclinations in their interactions with their fellow man, they will have less trouble observing the mitzvot בין אדם למקום.
Inseparably Connected – Parshat Kedoshim
The Segula is Israel's inner Divine light planted within the collective Hebrew soul and revealed in human history through the Jewish people.
TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Kedoshim: Seeing the Instructions
What we learn only through the ears makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye. -Horace
Dovid HaMelech’s Single Request
Dovid HaMelech was able to perceive the precariousness of routine and habitual activity that could tarnish the awesomeness, inspiration, and majesty of a special moment.
Standing Out
Rabbeinu Bechaye points out there that there are a few instances in Tanach where chodesh, the month, is synonymous with the new moon at the beginning of the month.