Not On Bread Alone

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

Am Yisrael accused Moshe of murdering Korach and his followers by instructing them to offer a Ketoret offering outside the Mishkan, knowing full well what the consequences of such an action would be.

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.

It is clear that Yaakov knew that Yosef was alive and in Egypt. The only question that remains is – did he know that the brothers had sold Yosef into slavery?

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.

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.

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?

I know very few who enjoy matzo year round. Most people can’t wait for Pesach to end, to get rid of all their leftover matzo.

Chazal say that the Menorah is a blessing of spirituality. It represents the light of the Torah.

When Moshe uses this phrase to rebuke Am Yisrael in parshat Ha'azinu, he states this as a fact, not as a conditional statement...Moshe is saying – it is for sure going to happen!

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.

Everything we do on Yom Kippur is for the purpose of elevating us to the status of angels.

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).

The mitzvah of hafrashat challah is from the written Torah, and like all the mitzvot related to the Land of Israel, applies only in Eretz Yisrael and only when the majority of Am Yisrael resides there.

The Shulchan symbolizes material wealth, and everything connected with it relates to the morality of wealth and livelihood.

Bilam’s advice was that Amalek stood no chance against the spiritually strong in Am Yisrael, but they did have a faint possibility to inflict damage on those in Am Yisrael who were spiritually weak.

The Korban Sotah in Marah removed all doubts from the minds of Bnei Yisrael regarding the integrity of their families.

While the mann was an enormous chesed that Hashem did for Bnei Yisrael in the midbar, its main purpose was to be a lesson in faith.

Even when they part ways because of the tiffs over grazing land, Avraham promises to always be there for Lot in time of need. He makes good on that promise when he takes on the world “superpowers” and rescues Lot from captivity.

We have minhagim to eat various different symbolic foods on the night of Rosh Hashana, somewhat resembling a Pesach Seder. There is one minhag, however, that is universal throughout Am Yisrael and that is eating apple dipped in honey. What is the origin of this minhag?

HKB”H, in most circumstances, tries to minimize the shame caused to the sinner... With lashon hara it is exactly the opposite. The entire procedure is deliberately made as visual and as public as possible.

If the sin originated with food, then its remedy and atonement must involve food. This is why Purim is so food oriented...

Steering clear of hazardous objects and environments are obligations no less than the above in preserving our bodies and souls.

When we go shopping, we stock our pantries for a week or more and go to bed in the secure knowledge that at least when we wake up the following morning, there will be food to eat.

The commentaries teach us that the Torah is not a book of stories. It only details things that have a profound lesson to teach us.

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.

Since the Tree of Knowledge had sinned and not obeyed Hashem’s directive, by all rights it should have been uprooted and destroyed, but that is not what happened.

Eretz Yisrael is blessed with seven species of food. One of the joys of living in Eretz Yisrael is having the privilege of eating these special foods.

According to our Sages there are seven layers in Heaven (this is where the expression seventh heaven comes from). The fifth layer is called Ma'on, and it is from this layer that simcha originates.

An Egyptian whose ancestors committed genocide against our people may be accepted as a convert after three generations, but a Moabite and Amonite – who never gave us bread and water, they may never be accepted?