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 The Menora – Symbol of Israel .: Viewed: 1343 times :.
The Menora in the Mishkan was not just a candelabrum to provide light. G-d does not need our light, He is the Light of the Universe. The Menora symbolizes the Eternal Covenant between G-d and the Jewish People. Representing spiritual light, the Menora is a symbol of the unique mission of the Jewish People, as the Prophet Yeshayahu states, “We are to be a Light unto the nations”....
Published: May 27, 2018 |
The CURE For Election Fever .: Viewed: 1332 times :.
Many people in Israel are now afflicted with Election Fever. This "malady" causes politicians from different political parties to verbally abuse, shame and attack each other. This is classic Lashon Hara V' Sinat Chinom.(Baseless hatred.) How can we who support different political parties avoid falling into this vicious cycle?
The Chofetz Chaim offers a profound explanation of the root of...
Published: January 10, 2019 |
PURIM - The Endless Miracle! .: Viewed: 1332 times :.
On Purim, as on Chanukah, we recite Al Hanisim. In this thanksgiving prayer, the stories of the miracles of both Festivals are related in a short and concise synopsis.
However, there is an obvious difference. In the Al Hanisim of Chanukah there is a finale, "Afterwards your sons came to Your House, they cleansed Your Sanctuary, purified Your Place of Holiness and lit lights in Your Holy...
Published: March 12, 2019 |
The Incomprehensible Power of Teshuva .: Viewed: 1327 times :.
Rashi in Parshat Chukat quotes a Midrash that explains that the Red Heifer is a tikun for the Sin of the Golden Calf. "To what can this be likened? To a maid that worked in the palace of the king. One day her child came and soiled the palace with his filth. The king said: 'Let the mother come and clean up her child's filth.'" This is the concept of atonement for the golden calf, for the Holy...
Published: June 14, 2021 |
Get a Life .: Viewed: 1322 times :.
“Now Korach took upon himself (to mutiny against Moshe)…..along with ON ben Pelet…” ON ben Pelet also was a member of the Korach mutiny against Moshe. But then he completely and totally disappears from the scene. What happened to him? The Talmud in Sanhedrin relates that his wife talked him out of it and saved him from his mad folly.
The Talmud explains that the...
Published: June 19, 2019 |
Shavuot - What’s in a Name? .: Viewed: 1321 times :.
Why is the Yom Tov of Matan Torah called Shavuot? (Weeks) In Judaism, the name of the Yom Tov defines what took place on that particular Festival. For example, Passover commemorates G-d’s passing over the Jewish first born when He killed the Egyptian first born. On Sukkot (booths) we thank G-d for supplying us with both physical booths and the Clouds of Glory which surrounded us like...
Published: May 9, 2018 |
We All Shine On .: Viewed: 1321 times :.
“Behold, You (Israel) are today like the stars of Heaven in abundance.” (Devarim 1:10) The Torah compares the Jewish People to the stars in the heavens. But there is another verse in Devarim 7 which seems to contradict this verse. There the Torah states “For You (Israel) are the fewest and the least of ALL Nations.”
Rashi on Devarim 1:10 deals with this problem. He...
Published: August 7, 2019 |
I Did It My Way! .: Viewed: 1317 times :.
Our Holy Torah, G-d’s most treasured possession, which He gave us on Shavuot, contains exactly 304,805 letters. There is not even one extra letter in our Holy Torah, let alone an extra verse. So why does the Torah in Parshat Naso repeat the Tribal Princes’ offerings which they brought to dedicate the Altar in the Mishkan 12 identical times? The Torah could have simply given the...
Published: May 29, 2019 |
Was Pharaoh in DE-NILE? .: Viewed: 1316 times :.
“And I (G-d) shall harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Shmot 7:3). This verse raises a difficult and basic question. How could Pharaoh be punished for not releasing Israel, when it was G-d Who prevented him from doing so? How do we explain the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart? Did G-d suddenly turn Pharaoh into a puppet? Did He take away Pharaoh’s human free will? Rambam...
Published: March 12, 2018 |
Why does Yirmiyahu refer to Tisha B’Av as a Festival? .: Viewed: 1316 times :.
On Tisha B'Av we mourn for the destruction of the first and second Holy Temples. The Talmud in Trachtate Taanit (p. 30) states that all Mitzvot that apply to a mourner during the Shiva also apply to the entire Jewish people on Tisha B'Av.
In other words, according to Halacha we are all sitting Shiva on Tisha B'Av. But, how can this be? For the Halacha states that if a close relative has...
Published: July 15, 2021 |
Pharaoh - The Original Anti-Semite! .: Viewed: 1313 times :.
There has been a rash of anti-Semitic attacks throughout Europe and the U.S.A. accompanied by vicious anti-Semitic tweets. But where did it all begin? The Torah states in Shemot 1:6-8 “Yosef died and all his brothers and that entire generation...And a new King arose over Egypt, who did not know of Yosef.”
My Rebbe, Rav Pam, often discussed the question of how Pharaoh and the...
Published: January 13, 2020 |
Prayer for CORONA Victims during SEFIRA .: Viewed: 1293 times :.
What do hope to accomplish when praying for a person stricken with CORONA? G‑D knows exactly what we need. My Rebbe Rav Pam, would repeat the question a cancer patient asked him in all sincerity. If pain and suffering are caused by one’s sins (Shabbat 55) and serve as a purifying process to spare the person from suffering in Gehenom, how may one pray that G‑D remove the pain?
Does a...
Published: May 8, 2020 |
PESACH - Cycling Thru Time .: Viewed: 1291 times :.
My great-great grandfather, the Bnei Yissaschar, points out the while there are many miracles recorded in TANACH, we do not commemorate or celebrate them all. Thus, we do not commemorate Yehoshua's stopping the sun, or his splitting of the Jordan River, 40 years after Moshe split the Red Sea. On the other hand, we commemorate the miracles of Pesach, Succot, Shavuot, and also Chanuka and Purim,...
Published: April 8, 2019 |
G-D’s Kiss of Death .: Viewed: 1286 times :.
"And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, took both of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense, and offered strange fire before Hashem, which He did not command them. And there went out fire from Hashem, and devoured them, and they died before Hashem." (Vayikra 10:1-2). Many Torah commentators have pondered why Nadav and Avihu died.
Was the "strange fire" sufficient cause for...
Published: March 18, 2019 |
The Light of My Life .: Viewed: 1276 times :.
“By the mouth of G-d they encamped, and by the mouth of G-d they traveled” (Bamidbar 9:23). The Jewish People never knew in advance how long they would be staying at an encampment in the wilderness. It could have been for a day or for even years. Nonetheless, we would set up the Mishkan at each encampment, following G-d’s instructions to keep the Mishkan functioning at all...
Published: June 4, 2019 |