Torah

Even in good times, when there is no need for physical mesiras nefesh, there is still a form of self-sacrifice required to give your spirit.

It is difficult for anyone to presume to know the reason behind the Rebbe’s campaign; it is not for us to decide why the Rebbe did what he did.

If a husband and wife have peace, then they have the Divine Presence in their midst. Therefore, we all should do whatever we can to safeguard the serenity and the tranquility of the home. This also is the best way to model good behavior for our children and grandchildren.

To the amazement of all in attendance, the Rebbe connected the answers with the names of those who asked the questions.

Ultimately each and every one of us is responsible for our own actions. Children’s excuses such as “my parents gave me permission” or parents’ insistence that “my child would never do that” do not absolve them from responsibility.

The old man answered that he was a kohen and he wanted to give everyone a blessing before he would be killed.

We’re in the country, without the invasive eyes of our more scrupulous city neighbors. We must therefore make a commitment to ourselves that we won’t allow this fact to affect our religious behavior.

You were granted from Above the opportunity to... ease the final moments of a person's life.

There is nothing wrong with going to Meron, and davening by kivrei tzadikim, and surely by the Tannah Rabi Shimon bar Yochai. But there is a special power that all beginnings have.

At the foot of Har Sinai, we achieved the dream of achdus – national oneness. One of the primary messages of Shavuos, therefore, is: Strive to replicate this achievement.

The tribe of Levi reasoned that since they weren’t enslaved by Pharaoh, they weren’t entitled to share in the booty which was taken as reparations for the harsh labor experienced by their brethren.

Often we look at a person or an event and we are convinced that this is the highest level of sainthood and godliness, not realizing that G-d seeks what is in the hearts and souls of humankind and not their outward appearance.

And that may be why only we Jews who are commanded to be holy also have commands that seek to purify our hears and minds.

In BHA”B season, the age-old argument on whether to open or close the shul’s windows tends to rear its ugly head. The fact that such disputes occur in shuls is not coincidental.

The computations of the sofrim were not restricted to gematria alone. There are myriads of number-related secrets in the Torah.

While someone who is born Jewish is undoubtedly according to Jewish law deemed as Jewish, there is still the underlying prerequisite that ones actions also and perhaps equally, define a person’s Judaism.

If children grow up saying whatever they want, it will be very hard for them to restrain themselves when they’re older even if they learn how egregious speaking lashon hara is.

The Seder is not just an educational and intellectual experience; it’s also a unique opportunity to say thank you together with our loved ones to Hashem for the fact that He chose us as His nation and gave us His wonderful mitzvos.

Torah study shouldn’t be saved for our retirement. We should run to learn.

The Chovos HaLevavos teaches us that prayer without thought is like a body without a soul and a peel without fruit.

In order to properly daven for the geula, one must first notice the magnitude of the situation.

We must therefore constantly remind ourselves that it’s the Jewish way to stand by the side of a mate through thick and thin.

Stiff-necked people are creatures of habit, and those habits become especially rigid during times of stress.

I have always said that when a Jewish day school closes down, there is no future for the local Jewish population, and within just a few years the Jewish community will be compromised.

While this story is quite remarkable, we must wonder: Why did Hashem allow Ezra’s holy Sefer Torah to be defaced in the first place?

Many argued that it would be downright dangerous not to attend as their absence might raise the monarch’s ire after all the trouble he went through to accommodate their needs.

Concepts such as marit ayin enjoin us to be “inauthentic” and to put on a show for the outside, even when we know there is nothing inherently wrong with our actions.

It is inconceivable to believe that when we exited Egypt everyone in Israel had the same views on every subject and did not have the distinctiveness and uniqueness that make our people, and each individual, so important.

The Hafla’ah writes that since we want our prayers to rise to the heavens, they must be infused with a ruach, a spirit that causes them to ascend to Hashem’s Throne of Glory.

Because verbal abuse is more prevalent and generally overlooked as being problematic, the Torah makes the consequences more severe.