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 Red Heifer's Great Secret  .: Viewed: 3206 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,...
Published: June 27, 2011
 The Rise and Fall of the Angels  .: Viewed: 2487 times :.
“ Yaakov had a dream: a ladder was set on the ground and its top reached up toward heaven, and angels of G-d were going up and down on it.” (Bereshit: 28:1) What is the meaning of this heavenly ladder? The ladder that was standing on the ground showed Yaakov that we must use the physical world as a ladder with which to elevate ourselves by serving G-d. Through our service of...
Published: November 12, 2012
 The Rise and Fall of Yaakov's Angels  .: Viewed: 1783 times :.
Yaakov had a dream, a ladder was set on the ground and its top reached up to heaven, and Angels of G-D were going up and down on it" (Bereshit 28). What is the meaning of this Heavenly Ladder? Life is like a ladder, a series of ups and downs. The ladder that was standing on the ground showed Yaakov that we must use the physical world as a ladder with which to elevate ourselves by serving...
Published: December 5, 2016
 The Shema – The Mystery of G-d's Justice  .: Viewed: 1815 times :.
In the Bible and Talmud we find 2 very different approaches to the concept of G-d's reward and punishment. They are typified in the very different ways in which catastrophe is dealt with in the Book of Iyov and the Book of Eicha. In the Book of Iyov, the righteous and suffering Iyov questions, "How does G-d run the world? Where is His justice?" Iyov is told by G-d that the way G-d executes...
Published: April 29, 2015
 The Shofar - A Call to Action  .: Viewed: 1553 times :.
On Rosh Hashana, when the Shofar is sounded, there is a pattern which repeats itself many times throughout the service. There is a straight blast (TEKIAH) followed by a broken blast (SHEVARIM TERUAH) followed by another straight blast (TEKIAH). Rabbi S.R. Hirsch explains that in the same way that the trumpets in the Desert (MIDBAR) were a call to Am Yisroel to journey forth, so too is the...
Published: August 23, 2017
 The Shofar- Bookends of Jewish History  .: Viewed: 1670 times :.
The Shofar is a very basic, natural instrument which, according to Halacha, may not be adorned with gold and silver. Its purity and simplicity, both in terms of its form and the notes it sounds, cut through the noise and BALAGAN of today’s world, calling the Jewish People back to the Torah. The Shofar connects us to the key moments of Jewish History that define our destiny as a Holy...
Published: September 12, 2016
 The Shofar: Horn of Unity and Freedom  .: Viewed: 2198 times :.
One aspect of the Mitzvah to sound the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah is to achieve the concept of unity. The Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 16a states that the primary purpose of the Shofar is to proclaim G-d's Kingship, "G-d says, ' Say Malchuyot before Me so that you will make Me King over you. With what? By blowing the Shofar.' The authority of a king is contingent on the existence of unity among his...
Published: August 5, 2013
 The Sin of Lashon Hara - A Chillul Hashem  .: Viewed: 1384 times :.
The Torah states in Parshat Emor “You shall not desecrate My Holy Name” (Vayikra 22:32). This verse is the source for the sin of Chillul Hashem, which is one of the most serious sins that a Jew can commit, and for which it is extremely difficult to do tshuvah (Yuma 86a). A little known aspect of Chillul Hashem is when a person habitually speaks or listens to lashon hara. The...
Published: April 22, 2021
 The Sin of the Spies: Defeatism and Despair  .: Viewed: 2383 times :.
The covenant between the Land and People of Israel began the moment G-d told Abraham, “Go forth from your land…to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).  From the very start, the relationship between these two was full of hardship because Eretz Yisrael is acquired through suffering (Talmud Berachot).  Before Abraham had succeeded in setting down permanent roots in...
Published: June 12, 2011
 The Sleeping Nation  .: Viewed: 1591 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
 The Song of Life  .: Viewed: 1602 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
 The Song of the Sea Turns Bitter  .: Viewed: 1375 times :.
After the joyous 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 failures and bitterness that we encounter in the second half of Parashat BeShalach. "Moshe led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the desert of Shur, and they went 3 days in the desert, and found no water. And they came to Mara...
Published: January 17, 2018
 The Song of the Sea Turns Bitter  .: Viewed: 1458 times :.
After the joyous 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 failures and bitterness that we encounter in the second half of Parashat BeShalach. "Moshe led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the desert of Shur, and they went 3 days in the desert, and found no water. And they came to Mara...
Published: January 22, 2018
 The Song of the Sea's Euphoria turns Bitter  .: Viewed: 2461 times :.
After Shirat Hayam, the Song of the Sea praising G-d (Exod. 15:1-18) has been sung, the nation – and the reader – are in a state of euphoria; thus, neither the nation nor the reader is prepared for the series of failures that Israel encounters in the second half of Parashat Beshalach: "And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and...
Published: May 24, 2011
 The Spies Fall Out – Teshuva Rejected!  .: Viewed: 1843 times :.
After the Sin of the Spies, as a punishment, G-d pronounced the sentence of doom on the male population from the ages of 20 -60. Therafter the Torah states, "They ascended the mountain top saying, 'we are ready, and we shall ascend to the place which G-d has spoken, for we have sinned.' "(Bamidbar 14:40) The Jewish People were embarrassed and humiliated. They finally realized that their...
Published: June 1, 2015
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