Not On Bread Alone

When Moshe saw two Jews (Datan and Aviram) fighting and tried to stop them, they went and informed to Pharaoh that he had killed an Egyptian guard. Moshe then said, Now I realize why Am Yisrael are in exile in Egypt – it is because they speak lashon hara.

Am Yisrael were desperately waiting for the Shechina to return after the sin of the Golden Calf. At the conclusion of the eight days...

Why the different types of matzah and their symbolism? Each had to be offered for a different reason.

Forget about five-year-old kids; most adults are not overly attracted to Sefer Vayikra, with all its gore.

Who were these clowns of Israel? What was their reason to mock Moshe? What exactly is it about this mocking that makes it unacceptable?

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.

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.

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.

Why was it necessary to use specific wood from specific cedar trees? The other raw materials used in building the Mishkan were simply from the spoils that Am Yisrael took with them from Egypt – gold, silver, wool, linen, etc.

According to both schools of thought, the Ramban and the Rambam, illness and disease are the result of an imbalance caused by eating and drinking the incorrect food and drink, which upsets the biochemical balance in the body and lowers the immune system.

Matan Torah on Har Sinai was the second time the Torah was given. It was the first time for Am Yisrael, but preceding this, Hashem gave the Torah to Adam HaRishon in Gan Eden – the Tree of Life, Eitz HaChayim.

What happened between the high point at the Red Sea and the low point in Refidim?

Unlike the Egyptians, who couldn’t see and couldn’t move, for Am Yisrael there was light in their places of dwelling (Shemot 10:23).

We should try, to the best of our human ability, to grasp the essence of Hashem and emulate it.

According to some opinions (Zohar, Va'eira 25b), Moshe was cured of his speech impediment, along with the rest of Am Yisrael who were cured of their ailments, before Matan Torah.

Our Sages tell us that when Hashem creates something or someone, at the same time He creates their opposite.

What was the difference between Leah’s crying and Rachel’s crying? Leah was weeping for her own misfortune... Did Rachel cry over her own misfortune?

Yosef was a living Shulchan Lechem HaPanim; through him Hashem channeled sustenance and prosperity to the entire world.

From the outset, there was seething sibling rivalry that eventually erupted explosively. The sons of Leah regarded the sons of the maidservants Zilpah and Bilhah with disdain, and they hated Yosef.

In this epic reunion, you have two multi-billionaires, each with a different life philosophy. Eisav’s is rav, a lot; Yaakov’s is kol, everything. How do they differ?

If you look beneath the surface of the story of the three angels visiting Avraham and the feast he served them, you will see it is a replica of a korban todah.

Why is Lot so important that Avraham took him along and risked his life to save him?

How could it be that the animals did not attack Noach and his family, or kill each other? They comprised all different rungs in the food chain.

Just as the essence of Shavuot is completely different from the essence of Pesach, so too the essence of Shemini Atzeret is completely different from the essence of Sukkot.

Hashem wants us to visit Him every day, to have a loving daily connection with Him and to ask Him for what we need. A relationship that even when we have what we need, we continue to visit the palace.

I just want to ask a simple question. Who said anything about tying Yitzchak up? Hashem certainly didn’t tell Avraham to tie Yitzchak up; He told him to offer Yitzchak as an olah.

Hashem performs a miracle of accounting because if He did not, none of us would survive the coming year.

Actually, happiness is not necessarily the correct English translation for the word simcha.

When a person leaves pe'ah in the corner of his field, he does so knowingly and even willingly, wanting to give to the poor as Hashem commanded. But it is impossible that this mitzvah can be performed 100 percent altruistically.

One would think that the Shulchan, a symbol of royalty and material wealth, is there to serve the Menorah, the light of the Torah. However, this is not what the Torah tells us.