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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 Tu B’Shevat’s Message - Trees R Us  .: Viewed: 1502 times :.
Since TT is published on Wednesday, which happens to be Tu B’Shevat, I feel that this article is still timely. In various places in Tanach a person is compared to a tree. "A person is like the tree of a field…"(Devarim 20:19). "For as the days of the tree shall be the days of My people." (Yeshayahu 65:22). "He will be like a tree planted near water…"(Yirmiyahu 17:8) What...
Published: January 30, 2018
 G-d’s Order To Moshe: DON’T PRAY!  .: Viewed: 1501 times :.
“….and the Children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and the Egyptians were pursuing after them. They were very frightened, and the Children of Israel cried out to G-d” (Shmot 14:10). Immediately after this, we read this unusual verse, “G-d said to Moshe, why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the Children of Israel and let them travel”. This verse is difficult to...
Published: March 17, 2018
 Will the FINAL Mikdash be a Physical Building?  .: Viewed: 1501 times :.
Zecharya ch. 8 tells us that Tisha B’Av will become a joyous festive Yom Tov when Mashiach comes and builds the third and final Beit Hamikdash. The prophet Yechezkel deals with the construction of the Third and Final Temple in great detail. A major problem is that Yechezkel’s vision of the Third Beit Hamikdash in ch. 48 describes a Sanctuary Structure of enormous, gigantic...
Published: July 22, 2019
 Yosef's Brothers See the Light  .: Viewed: 1500 times :.
“Yosef’s brothers then said one to another, but we are guilty concerning our brother as we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us and we paid no attention, that is why this anguish has come upon us.” (Bereshis 42:21) This verse describes how Yosef’s brothers became introspective on experiencing the strange and cruel behavior of the Egyptian Viceroy...
Published: December 16, 2019
 Sarah – The First Beauty Queen  .: Viewed: 1499 times :.
The Torah states, “Sarah’s lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years.” (Bereshit 23:1) The Torah informs us of Sarah’s age by separating the hundreds, the tens, and the ones by adding the word “years” to each group. This seems to be redundant. We know there are no extra words or even letters in the Torah. Rashi explains that each...
Published: November 2, 2017
 Our Personal “EGYPT”  .: Viewed: 1494 times :.
The Hagada says, "In every generation a person is obligated to see himself as if he had personally been liberated from Egypt." How do I personally make the transition from slavery to freedom when I was never a slave? Every person is, in a sense, born a slave – to ignorance, to lust, to passion, and to selfishness. Our task is to free ourselves from our personal “EGYPT”, which...
Published: March 3, 2018
 STEP - BY - STEP  .: Viewed: 1490 times :.
“You shall not ascend My Alter on steps.” (Shemot 20:23) Why does the Torah prohibit climbing up to the Alter on steps? Rashi explains that the Torah commands here to build a ramp for the Alter and the ramp must be smooth and inclining without steps. Had there been steps leading up to the Alter, the Kohen would have to raise his legs as he mounted the steps. This would be a...
Published: January 23, 2019
 Can You Take It With You?  .: Viewed: 1489 times :.
Is there a way to take it with you? Jack Benny famously said, “If I can’t take it with me, I’m not going.” But as we all know, he went anyway. The Torah states in Parshat Terumah, “Speak to the children of Israel and have them TAKE to Me a contribution.” (Shemot 25:2) Why does the verse state “TAKE to Me” rather than “Give to...
Published: January 30, 2019
 G-d’s Reply to Moshe’s Cry  .: Viewed: 1487 times :.
Moshe cries out to G‑d, “…why have You done evil to this People…?” (Shemot 5:22) Hashem replies to him “and I appeared to Avraham, Yitzhak, and to Yaakov as KEIL SHADAI…” (Shemot 6:3) What did G‑d mean by this statement? Moshe could not comprehend why the cruel Egyptian slavery was intensifying after G‑d had promised him that redemption was near...
Published: January 13, 2020
 It’s NOW or Never!  .: Viewed: 1481 times :.
“And NOW Israel, what does Hashem your G-d, ask of you? Only that you fear Hashem your G-d.” (Devarim 10:12) The Midrash Bereshit Rabba 21 comments that the word NOW is a reference to Teshuvah. In what aspect does the word NOW denote the concept of Teshuvah? My Rebbe, Rav Pam ZT”L explains that contemplating how quickly time and life pass us by is the most powerful motive...
Published: August 7, 2018
 The Last of the 613 - Write G-d’s Love Song  .: Viewed: 1480 times :.
The last of the 613 Mitzvot is, “And now, write for yourselves this song, teach it to the Children of Israel. Place it into their mouths”…(Devarim 31:19). According to Sanhedrin 21b this verse teaches that it is a Mitzva for every Jewish Person to write a Sefer Torah for himself. Why is the Torah referred to by the unusual term “song”? There is no other Mitzva...
Published: August 29, 2018
 Shabbat – G-d’s Day to Re-JEWvinate  .: Viewed: 1479 times :.
Parshat Mishpatim repeats the Mitzvah of Shabbat which was already stated in the Ten Commandments. “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day, you shall rest…..” (Shmot 23:12). In the division of the Torah into chapters and verses, the account of Shabbat in the Creation story, in Bereshit, comes at the beginning of Chapter 2. The Abarbanel informs us, that...
Published: February 7, 2018
 Tisha B’Av - PLAN A or PLAN B?  .: Viewed: 1474 times :.
The Mitzva to mourn on Tisha B’Av is only temporary, (PLAN B) until it becomes a permanent day of joy and celebration when Mashiach comes as stated in Zacharya 8. Thus, Tisha B’Av is destined to be part of our Halachic tradition, but NOT as a day of eternal mourning. Therefore, in Megillat Eicha, which is read on Tisha B’Av, Yirmiyahu refers to Tisha B’Av as a MOED...
Published: July 25, 2019
 Tisha B’Av during the 2nd Temple - Were We BI-POLAR?  .: Viewed: 1467 times :.
This year, because Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbat, we will be Feasting instead of Fasting. The Tisha B’Av Fast is pushed off until Sunday. What about Tisha B’Av during the Second Temple Period? Did the Jewish People fast during those 420 years that the Second Temple stood? The Prophet Zecharia, who lived at the beginning of the Second Temple Period, states (Ch. 8) that all of...
Published: July 4, 2018
 Making Each Day Count!  .: Viewed: 1465 times :.
Sefirat Ha'Omer commands us to make time count. We count each day, to make every day count. My friend and mentor, Rav Chaim Wilschanski SHLITA explains in his book that the word SFIRA (to count) is related to the word SAPIR (Sapphire). Each day should be cherished, treasured and unwrapped like a precious sapphire. The counting of the Omer links the physical freedom of Pesach to the...
Published: May 6, 2019
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