Not On Bread Alone

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

Instinctively, one would think the Torah is more important because it is the reason for the existence of the entire world.

Our Sages say that the reason we whisper the above blessing in Hebrew is that we do not want to openly flaunt a blessing we “stole” from the angels.

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.

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.

Meir Panim notes the principle that the sin of Adam and Chava was comprised of multiple stages, corresponding to the three opinions in the Gemara.

Everyone willingly and eagerly went to the Beit HaMikdash, even for two olives and two figs, because when they brought the bikkurim, they could ask Hashem for whatever they wanted, and it would be granted.

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.

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?

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.

Although men are also obligated to do so, this mitzvah is primarily incumbent on women and they are given preference in performing it. Sarah was the first woman in history to perform this mitzvah.

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.

A genuine smile is a form of energy, an inner light radiating out from the soul.

This is the way Hashem wants us to serve Him, not just according to the letter of the law, but beyond that, out of love, and not only because we are obligated and commanded to.

It is possible to teach a child a Divine crash course in metalwork or stone masonry overnight, but you cannot give a crash course in childlike innocence.

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.

Korach cynically recruited the tribe of Reuven to join his “coup” against Moshe and Aharon, claiming that it was the right of the bechor, Reuven, to work in the Mishkan – not Aharon and the Kohanim.

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?

Every year, Jews in America join the rest of the nation in celebrating national Thanksgiving, on the last Thursday in November. However, we Jews...

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.

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

During the seven years of plenty in Egypt and before the seven years of famine, the pasuk says that Yosef divided the land up into Kematzim, which Rashi explains as – stockpiling grains Kometz on Kometz, handful on handful.

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.

Even more curious is the latter part of the Midrash – to prevent becoming afflicted with the nega’im, what should one do? Eat, drink and be happy! Have a continual party – that is the remedy!

On a chemical level, chametz is a conundrum. The existence of fermentation is not sufficient to define chametz.

The first place that Am Yisrael traveled to after leaving Raamses in Egypt was Sukkot. If we go with this method, that Sukkot was a place, then what was so special about the place Sukkot that warrants us remembering it and celebrating an entire festival around it (according to R’ Akiva)?

Noach was a tzaddik; his generation had sinned, had not repented, and had been wiped out. This caused Noach extreme grief, not because he now had to contend with a post-apocalyptic world but because he felt that perhaps he did not do enough to prevent it.

So what then is this business about preceding their infants with the sheep? If the sheep were meaningless to them, why did they mention them first?

Hashem resorted to Plan B, which began by restoring unity within Am Yisrael, and only when that was in place directing the focus to where it was originally intended.

The Sages mistakenly interpreted this refusal as an egotistically motivated desire to maintain a monopoly, and they summarily fired the entire Garmu family.