Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher, Dean of Students and Senior Lecturer at Diaspora Yeshiva, is not only a popular speaker and teacher, but also a dynamic thinker and writer. A student of Harav Yaakov Kamenetsky and Harav Gedalia Schorr, Rabbi Sprecher was granted smicha (rabbinical ordination) by Torah Vodaath Yeshiva. Prior to his current position, Rabbi Sprecher was a professor of Judaic studies at Touro College in New York. In addition to his duties at Diaspora Yeshiva, Rabbi Sprecher writes a regular column on various Judaic topics in the Jewish Press, and lectures regularly at the OU Israel Center in Jerusalem.
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 The Song of Life  .: Viewed: 1604 times :.
Frank Sinatra had a hit song called, "That's Life-Riding High in April Shot Down in May". Was he singing about the Splitting of the Red Sea followed by the Amalek terror attack? After the Song of the Sea praising G-D has been sung, the Jewish Nation is in a state of euphoria. Thus, the Jewish People are not prepared for the series of failures that we encounter in the second half of Parashat...
Published: February 2, 2017
 Relieving The Agony of the Agunah  .: Viewed: 1604 times :.
The plight of the Agunah wife is an ongoing tragedy. Recently, a woman who has been an Agunah for 17 years went on a hunger strike in Jerusalem. An Agunah (literally a chained wife) is one whose husband deserts her and refuses to give her a GET, thus preventing her from remarrying. The leading Rabbis in every generation have tried to find solutions, even far-fetched ones, for the distress of...
Published: June 28, 2017
 Rivka's AYIN TOVA  .: Viewed: 1604 times :.
Both Yaakov Avinu and Moshe Rabeinu found their spouses at a BE’ER (a well). Eliezer, Avraham’s servant, also met Rivka, Yitzchak’s future wife, at a well. At that event, the Torah first calls the well a BE’ER (Bereshis 24:11). However, in Bereshis 24:42 the Torah calls the well where Eliezer met Rivka AYIN. Why the switch? The Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim informs us...
Published: November 12, 2019
 The Two Faces of Yaacov  .: Viewed: 1599 times :.
According to the Midrash Bereshit Raba 66, Yaacov’s image is engraved on G-d’s Heavenly Throne. In Yaacov’s dream, angels ascended the ladder to look on Yaacov’s image on the Heavenly Throne, and then descended the ladder to look on Yaacov on Earth. The angels were amazed at how both images were identical. Rav Soloveitchik explains, that when a person sins, his external...
Published: November 22, 2017
 The Sleeping Nation  .: Viewed: 1593 times :.
The Talmud in Megilla 13 states that when Haman targeted the Jews for annihilation, he said to Achashverosh, "Let us implement the final solution to destroy the Jews". Achashverosh replied, "I am afraid of their G-D, lest He do to me what He did to my predecessors, Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar". Haman relieved the king of that fear when he said, YESHNO AM ECHAD, which translates literally as,...
Published: March 1, 2017
 Yaakov’s 12 Sons: Star Power Plus  .: Viewed: 1583 times :.
Yosef had a dream about himself and his brothers. “And he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, I have dreamed that the sun, the moon, and 11 stars bowed down to me” (Bereshit 37:9). One of the meanings of Yosef’s dream is that the Jewish People are All Stars. Perhaps that is why Jews invented Hollywood. (Pun Intended) In Jewish astrology, G-d...
Published: December 20, 2017
 Seeing G-D In Nature  .: Viewed: 1582 times :.
  The Yeshiva students are now on vacation touring the Holy Land. Is this considered BITUL TORAH-neglecting Torah study? In Parashat Lech Lecha, G-D tells Avraham, "Get up and tour the Land". The Torah is not ancient history, it is G-D's GPS (G-D's Personal System). G-D was not just speaking to Avraham, but to every Jew. G-D is commanding us to explore his Precious Holy Land. At the...
Published: August 26, 2016
 Yosef – The Viceroy in Galut  .: Viewed: 1573 times :.
"And the name of his second son Yosef called Ephraim, for G-d has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction" (Bereshit 41:52). When Yosef's two sons were born, he gave them names which reflected particular circumstances in his life. The older son he called Menashe (making to forget), because, he said, "G-d has made me forget all the sorrow of my father's house", meaning the evil that...
Published: December 26, 2017
 Our Personal Mishkan  .: Viewed: 1572 times :.
How can we, flesh and blood human beings, create a physical location which is a worthy residence for G-d's Divine Presence? Can a mere mortal build a physical place in this material world for the Almighty Who is Infinite? Yet, that is exactly what G-d commands us in Shmot 25, "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary, and so I will dwell in their midst." The Talmud explains that Bezalel, who...
Published: February 11, 2015
 Kosher-You Are What You Eat  .: Viewed: 1572 times :.
The Torah only allows us to eat animals that have split hooves and also chew the cud. Animals that chew the cud but do not have split hooves or vice versa may not be eaten. What is the relevance of these physical signs to the issue of eating the animal that has or doesn't have these signs? Are these just CHUKIM (statutes) from G-D which we must obey without understanding the reason? The...
Published: April 20, 2017
 The Eternal Message of the MANN  .: Viewed: 1571 times :.
“And now, our life is dried up, there is nothing, we have nothing but the MANN” (Bamidbar 11). Rashi states that G-d remarked, “Look at what my children complain about, the wonderful and delicious MANN”. My Rebbe, Rav Pam says that G-d’s comment continues to reverberate to this very day – “Look what my children complain about”. Rav Pam...
Published: June 4, 2017
 Shabbat's Link to the Mishkan  .: Viewed: 1563 times :.
Why is the construction of the Mishkan juxtaposed with Shabbat (Shemot 35)? When G-D created the world He unleashed His unlimited power to create all forms of existence-inanimate, vegetable, animal, and human beings. G-D however, purposefully performed His task in an incomplete manner. The last word of the story of creation is LA'ASOT (to do) (Bereshit 2). By using this word, G-D asks...
Published: March 17, 2017
 Jerusalem – The Original D.C.  .: Viewed: 1562 times :.
Where does the name Yerushalayim come from? The answer is given by Tosfot in Tractate Taanit, 16 who state that the name Yerushalayim is a combination of two words, one uttered by Avraham at the Akeda (Bereshis 22), "Har Hashem Yeiraeh", which means "The mountain where G-d will be seen", and the city was already called Shalem, (peace), by Malkitzedek (Bereshis 14). Thus, the city of...
Published: May 12, 2014
 The Torah is NOT P.C.  .: Viewed: 1562 times :.
On Thursday, August 3rd the City of Jerusalem will host a Gay Pride Parade. As a result, some Torah Classes at the OU Israel Center will be cancelled. This is Bitul Torah big time. There is a verse in Devarim 28, “G-d will strike you with madness.” This verse in the Torah is being fully and completely observed by our Politically Correct Leaders. The Municipality of Jerusalem...
Published: August 7, 2017
 The Chillul Hashem of False Piety  .: Viewed: 1558 times :.
Earlier this month, a group of IDF soldiers were cursed and assaulted by "Chareidim" in Mea Shearim. The police had to escort the Soldiers out of the Shul in which they were praying. The appropriate response would have been to let the soldiers pray and instead arrest the violent individuals. Physical and verbal assaults and the incitement of violence are criminal acts. The fact...
Published: November 10, 2016
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