| Title |
Abstract |
Nature and Freedom
|
It’s extremely important
to train a child according to his nature. We should not try to change his
personality, but give him the resources to use it for the good. Unfortunately,
this most fundamental principle of Torah education is overlooked today, both by
parents and in the schools, which have become so institutionalized that ... more
|
Mourning the Destruction of the Temple
|
On all the fast days but Tisha B'av the daily prayers are
enhanced with vidui and selichos, for the theme of the day is
teshuvah. On Tisha B'av there is no vidui and there’s no selichos
(the kinos are not selichos). Tisha B'av is the most severe of all
the fast days commemorating the ... more
|
Preparing for Elul
|
How do we prepare
ourselves for Elul and the High Holy Days so that we feel at least something of
the sense of awe that was so much more common in past generations? What
can we do to assure that when we pound on our hearts while saying vidui,
our hearts pound on us ... more
|
First Steps in Elul
|
Everyone knows the verse
in Shir Hashirim (6:3) that is used to interpret the name of this month that
precedes the High Holy Days. The letters which spell Elul in Hebrew correspond
to the first letters in each word of the passage: יל ידודו ידודל ינא
“I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me.” ... more
|
A Time for Crying
|
Elul is a time of crying. Not the crying of Tisha B’av, but
the crying of an awakening, a being born, the crying of an infant that breathes
for the first time. That’s why we blow the shofar: to wake us up. We go
through the whole year half asleep. We get used ... more
|
Elul: A Time of Grace
|
Sephardim start saying
selichos from Rosh Chodesh Elul. Ashkenazim don’t start until almost the last
week of Elul. Since Elul is a time of mercy, when G-d is especially receptive to
our prayers, why don’t the Ashkenazim take advantage of the opportunity and
start saying selichos, like the Sephardim, from Rosh Chodesh? The Sephardim ... more
|
Rosh Hashanah: Giving Ourselves to G-d
|
On each one of the three Regalim we are judged. For
that reason, a unique offering was made in the Beis Hamikdosh on each Regel.
On Pesach we are judged for grain, so we brought an offering of grain: the omer.
On Shavuos we are judged for fruits, so offered a fruit: wheat, ... more
|
The Miracle of Teshuvah
|
Teshuvah involves
recognizing that you did something wrong, stopping to do it, regretting having
done it, and resolving never do it again. In addition, the mitzvah of teshuvah
involves vidui—confession—a verbalization of that recognition, regret
and resolution. But why should it have to be put into words? You know what you
have on your mind. ... more
|
Making a Living
|
There was once a person who was hitch-hiking. He was carrying
a large bundle and before long someone picked him up. When the driver looked
back through his rear view mirror, he noticed that the hitch-hiker was still
carrying his bundle. “You can put it down,” the driver told him. The
hitch-hiker responded, “It ... more
|
Nature is Miracles that Happen All the Time
|
The purpose of creation is that
man should recognize his G-d and realize that G-d created Him and the world with
the intention of showering him with goodness—with the knowledge of G-d, for
G-d Himself is that goodness. But in order for Him to do that, the creation
needs a connection to Him. It ... more
|
Coping with Problems: The Real Purpose of Life
|
The best way to handle a problem is to solve it, but not
every problem can be solved, and even the problems that can be solved often
cannot be solved immediately. So when a problem arises, one often has to endure
it even if it will be solved. One has to know how ... more
|
Why So Many Problems?
|
The bad things in this
world seem to overpower the good things. The simple fact is that there is more
suffering in this world than there is happiness. More people are sad than are
happy, more time in a person’s life is likely to be sad than to be happy, and
more time of ... more
|
Mitzvos: Hard or Easy?
|
Problems are a source of strength when a person relates to them properly. As the midrash
in Yalkut Malachim points out, the eye looks out from the black, not the
white of the eye. The Baal Haturim notes that the gematria of the
word arafel, which means darkness, is the same as the ... more
|
Real Happiness
|
However beneficial it may
be for a person’s spiritual life to cope in a positive way with life’s
problems, we do not look for problems or create problems for ourselves. We can
assume that G-d will send us the problems that we need to keep our lives on
track, and when problems come our ... more
|
Being Happy with One’s Portion
|
One way of avoiding
certain problems is to be happy with fewer things. There are people who can’t
imagine being happy without a big house in the middle of the city. Some people
need two cars besides, others feel deprived without a chauffeur. They can’t
understand how a ben Torah can live happily when, ... more
|
What Really Counts
|
A person should get his happiness from eternal things, from
leading a good life, from having a good relationship with G-d, not from
transient things, that today you have them and tomorrow they’re gone. Real
goodness in life comes from a sense of the eternal. Only the experience of
living with the eternal can ... more
|
Seeing the Good
|
A person should work on
developing the ability to appreciate little things. One way of doing this is not
to expect anything. When things go wrong, people ask, “Why is this happening
to me?” Rarely does a person ask that question when things go right—as
though he had a right to his good fortune. ... more
|
Recognizing Problems
|
When Rebbe Shimon Bar
Yochai and his son, Rebbe Eliezer, left their cave for the first time, they were
so impatient with the ordinary life of working people that they burned up
whatever they saw. A Bas Kol went forth from Heaven and sent them back into the
cave for another year. When they ... more
|
Focusing on the Positive
|
People want black and
white situations. They want things to be totally positive or totally negative,
and tend to see things like that. But every situation is a mixture. It has
negative features and positive features. Its important to see both, because in
order to deal with a situation realistically we have to be ... more
|
Patience
|
There are two qualities
that are basic to coping with the problems that arise in life: Patience and the
ability to endure suffering, to tolerate a difficult situation. Patience is the
inner readiness to endure what is at hand until it changes. It implies the hope
and perhaps even the conviction that, in the ... more
|
The Whole Picture
|
G-d is the greatest artist of
all. No one paints the way G-d paints. The whole world is His canvas and the
entire pageant of history is His picture. But we don’t always recognize G-d’s
technique. We don’t necessarily understand why this black line or that black
shadow—the bitter things in life—are necessary if ... more
|
Hidden in Darkness
|
Problems are part of life
and a source of strength if a person uses them properly. The midrash in Yalkut
Malachim comments that a person sees from the black, not the white of his
eye, as though the world is revealed through the darkness. The Hebrew for
darkness is araphel לפרע. The Baal Haturim
notes ... more
|
Controlling Your Emotions
|
A person has to be able to adapt
himself to situations that are less than ideal and make the best of them. In
order to do that, a person has to be able to control himself. That means that,
rather than letting his emotions control him, he controls his
emotions. A person who can’t ... more
|
Be a King
|
A person can not only control his emotions, he can also sublimate his emotions and raise them to
higher levels. Yaakov Avinu was reading Kriyas Shema when he met Yosef.
This has been interpreted in many ways. One is that, at that moment, Yaakov had
the most intense feeling of love he had ... more
|
The Secret of Youth
|
It is necessary for a
person to be able to adapt to situations which are less than ideal. “…the
youth is renewed like the eagles.” (Tehilim 103:5) The ability to renew youth
doesn’t mean the ability to turn back the clock and become young again.
Rather, the verse is referring to the capacity for ... more
|
Self-Renewal
|
We have pointed out that
even though problems may not change, a person changes, and when a person
changes, his experience of his problems changes. This means that even a problem
that won’t go away may become much easier to live with in the course of time
because it may simply lose its importance ... more
|
Nothing is Totally Negative
|
In every negative situation there are opportunities to find something positive that offers some
compensation for the negative experience. For example, G-d compensates a blind
person’s loss of sight by strengthening his other senses. But sometimes the
loss itself, the negative experience itself, has a compensating positive side.
In his late eighties, the Chofetz ... more
|
Like an Eagle
|
There are a number of things we can learn from the eagle.
The eagle is a large and fearsome bird. As though it were
aware of its powers, it is careful to approach its nest slowly to avoid scaring
its children. The nestlings need time to recognize the features of the large
bird that ... more
|
Levels of Sprit
|
Our purpose in life is elevate ourselves in devotion to G-d. That idea, which is no doubt familiar to
you, implies that there are different—higher and lower ways—of being human.
In Jewish tradition, they have been identified and discussed at great length.
Three basic terms are used, and to grasp the spiritual dimension ... more
|
The Taste of Mitzvos
|
Why did G-d create
anything? We can’t say for sure because we cannot grasp G-d’s intentions.
Only G-d Himself can do that. But to a certain degree, G-d lets us know things
that we can understand, and even in that limited understanding, we can have a
deep sense of satisfaction.
It’s like that with everything. ... more
|
Rabbinical Commandments
|
We learn in this week’s parsha (Achrei Mos - Vayikra 18:30)
“You shall safeguard my charge…”. Make a safeguard for my charges. This,
according to most opinions, is the source of the rabbinical authority to make
“fences” around the Torah for protective measures. If it wouldn’t be for
this verse, Chazal would not be ... more
|
The Fence that Keeps us from Falling
|
There are people who say that the rabbis made life very hard for us, that the life of a ben
Torah would have been a lot easier if we didn’t have to keep the
rabbinical commandments. For example: The Torah prohibits eating milk and meat
together, but it’s the rabbis who require us ... more
|
Don’t Let Him Get Started
|
People sometimes have the feeling that even if the rabbis had to make fences around the
Torah, they went too far. For example, I used to have an old uncle who lived
here in Eretz Yisrael for the last two or three months of his life. He used to
come every year to ... more
|
The Sense of Boundaries that Keeps us Safe
|
It is often easy
to see that the fences which the rabbis legislated around the mitzvos of the
Torah provide a vital margin that keeps us from violating the Torah. For
example, they forbade us to eat chicken and milk because person might think that
if it’s OK to eat chicken with milk it’s ... more
|
The Creation and the Commandments (Part I)
|
G-d created the world with Ten Statements and gave us the Ten Commandments.
There is a correlation between the two. Each of the Ten Commandments fulfils the
potential established by a corresponding creative Statement.
The first of the Ten Statements is “In the beginning G-d created the heaven
and the earth. There are nine ... more
|
The Creation and the Commandments (Part 2)
|
Last week we began to outline the correspondence between the
Ten Statements of Creation and the Ten Commandments. We got as far as the
fourth.
The fifth of the Ten Statements is “Let the earth sprout
vegetation: herbage yielding seed, fruit trees yielding fruit each after its
kind, containing its own seed on the earth.” ... more
|
Perfection-The Purpose of Man
|
What is a person supposed to achieve in this world. What
should be his goals? Through the process of aging, G-d makes it clear to us that
our time is short. Every one of us has a purpose in this world, something
we’re here to accomplish before our time is up. It’s never ... more
|
The Mourning Process of the Three Weeks
|
The 21 days that are the three weeks between the 17th
of Tammuz and the ninth of Av correspond to the 21 days between Rosh Hoshanah
and Hoshanah Rabbah. The 21 days between the 17th of Tammuz and the
ninth of Av lead to the height of mourning. The 21 days between Rosh ... more
|
Mourning
|
Mourning has two purposes, two things which are engendered by
the ritual and emotional expression of mourning. The first one is the statement:
Something is not right. I’m missing something that is so serious that I
can’t continue my regular routine and I can’t be involved in the usual
niceties of ordinary life. My ... more
|
The Mitzvah of Giving Reproof
|
When Eli Hakohen saw Channah at prayer, he thought that she
was drunk and reproved her. From this the Gemora learns that when a person sees
someone doing something that is not proper, he should reprove him. Tosephos
indicates that the Torah itself obligates us to reprove a person who is
violating a Torah ... more
|
When We Don’t Give Reproof
|
Sometimes people do averos without realizing it.
They’re just doing what they’ve always done and what everyone’s always
done (as far as they know). Anyone who reproves them will just be accused of
being excessively strict. They won’t listen, and it will just make matters
worse.
For once they are informed that what they are ... more
|
First Steps in Elul
|
Everyone knows the verse in Shir Hashirim (6:3) that is used
to interpret the name of this month that precedes the High Holy Days. The
letters which spell Elul in Hebrew correspond to the first letters in each word
of the passage אני לדודי ודודי לי
(I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me). ... more
|
A Time for Crying
|
Elul is a time of crying. Not the crying of Tisha B’av, but the crying of an
awakening, a being born, the crying of an infant that breathes for the first
time. That’s why we blow shofar: to wake us up. We go through the whole year
half asleep. We get used to ... more
|
Elul- A Time of Grace
|
Sephardim start saying selichos from Rosh Chodesh Elul.
Ashkenazim don’t start until almost the last week of Elul. Since Elul is a
time of mercy, when G-d is especially receptive to our prayers, why don’t the
Ashkenazim take advantage of the opportunity and start saying selichos, like the
Sephardim, from Rosh Chodesh? The Sephardim ... more
|
The Miracle of Teshuvah
|
Teshuvah involves recognizing that you did something
wrong, stopping to do it, regretting having done it, and resolving never do it
again. In addition, the mitzvah of teshuvah involves vidui—confession—a
verbalization of that recognition, regret and resolution. But why should it have
to be put into words? You know what you have on your ... more
|
Impressions of a Tsaddik
|
It says that Yaakov Avinu
left Be'er Sheva and went to Charan. Why does it say, vayatzay, and he
left? It could have just said that Yaakov went to Charan, and we would have
known that he left Be'er Sheva. Rashi explains that it teaches a lesson—that
as long as the tsaddik is in ... more
|
To Do What's Proper
|
“HaShem is here in this place, and I did not know it!” exclaimed Yaakov Avinu upon
awakening from his prophetic dream at the Makom HaMikdash. “How
awesome is this place! This is the House of Elokim, the Gate of Heaven!"“
How can it be that he did not know beforehand of the holiness
of ... more
|
The Machlokes Behind the Machlokes
|
The conflict between Yosef and his brothers is one of the
most difficult parashos in the Torah. In order to understand it, we first
have to understand the very different perspectives that they had on their own
roles in the formation of the Jewish people.
Yosef had a unique role to play. He was ... more
|
Chanukah- What The Miracle Was Really For
|
On Chanukah we commemorate
the miracle of the oil. But, like miracles in general, we misunderstand. We say
to ourselves, “If I’d see a one-day supply of oil burn for eight days, that’s
it, I’d be such a ma’amin, I'd never do another aveirah again.”
But that's not the case…
I don’t know how many ... more
|
A Hint of Golus
|
It says in the parsha
(Bereishis 45:17) that Pharoh commanded Yosef to prepare wagons for his family
and send them to bring his father and the rest of his family to Egypt, where
they were to receive the most fertile land. Subsequently, the Torah relates
(45:27) that when “Yaakov saw the wagons that Yosef ... more
|
Learning and Working- Resolving the Contradictions
|
Rabban
Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, said, “Yafeh Talmud Torah im
Derech Eretz.” According to most commentaries, this means that “Learning
goes well with working.” That's because, as the mishna goes on to say,
“the toil that a person puts into both of them keeps him far from sin; and all
Torah that ... more
|
Three Days That Shook The World
|
Moshe Rabbeinu's mission
was clear: He was chosen by HaShem to lead the people out of Egypt and take them
to live in Eretz Yisrael. That is how it was given to Moshe, and that is how he
presented it to the people. By the time he confronts Pharaoh, however, the
agenda seems to ... more
|
Seeing Is Believing
|
Chananiah, Mishal and Azaria cast themselves into the fiery
furnace rather than bow down to an idol. “What did they see,” asks the
Gemorah, “that they chose to die?” The Gemorah answers that they made a kal
v'chomer from the frogs of Egypt, who threw themselves into the ovens: If
the frogs, who are ... more
|
Yetzias Mitzraim- Going Out In Style
|
In Parshas Shmos, HaShem
told Moshe that the Jewish people would be taking gold, silver and clothing from
the Egyptians when they would be leaving. Here in Parshas Bo, however, gold and
silver is again mentioned, but clothing is omitted. Nevertheless, in the end,
they do take the Egyptians' clothing with them, and they ... more
|
A Reason To Sing- The Three Miracles of Krias Yam Suf
|
Prior to Krias Yam Suf,
HaShem admonishes Moshe: "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to
go." There's no need for tefilah. Rashi explains that the sea would
split in the merit of their forefathers and the merit that they believed in
HaShem and followed Him into the wilderness. But then, ... more
|
The Things That Yisro Heard
|
The Torah tells us that
after Yisro heard all that had happened to Moshe and Israel when HaShem took
them out of Egypt, he came to join them. Yet, Rashi asks, What report did he
hear, and come? And the answer Rashi gives—that he came because he heard about
Krias Yam Suf and Milchemas ... more
|
The Chapters of Redemption
|
The Ramban writes that Shemos is the Sefer of Geulah. From Parshas Shemos through Yisro the story is
told of the redemption from slavery until Sinai. From Mishpatim onward, however,
it is unclear what the subsequent parts have to do with the theme of redemption.
Mishpatim would seem to fit in better at ... more
|
The Necessity of Simcha
|
Let’s speak a little
about what a person needs in order to be happy. First, the Torah says that being
happy in Avodas HaShem is extremely important. It’s not good enough to be
keeping Torah and mitzvos. If you’re not happy about it, if it doesn’t give
you simcha, it leads to golus. Tachas ... more
|
The 7-Step Guilt Trip
|
It’s been said that this
world is like a down escalator. You have to move forward just to stay where you
are, and you have to work very hard to make any real progress. But if you make
no effort, and just try to maintain a comfortable niche in life, you will just
be ... more
|
Reacting to Provocative Events
|
The following talk was given in the wake of the Boruch
Goldstein massacre in Hebron on Purim ‘94, but its theme remains painfully
relevant.
Even though there is a
gemora that says “the best of the goyim, kill,” the rishonim and acharonim
are very clear that, unless he is threatening your life, you cannot just ... more
|
Two Kinds of Mishkan
3/9/2002
|
The Gemora says that HaShem told Moshe to make the Mishkan,
and afterwards the keilim; but when Moshe transmitted the instructions to
Betzalel, he reversed the order, putting the keilim first, and then the
Mishkan. Betzalel objected, that that’s not the way of the world; first a
person builds a house, then puts in ... more
|
The Seder: A Pattern of Identity
3/23/2002
|
In the Haggadah, Rabbi
Yehudah divides the The Ten Plagues into three groups. Each one of these groups
represents a different component of Egyptian nationhood destroyed by the Yad
HaShem. The first three, represented by the acronym DaTzaCh (dam, tsefardaya,
kinim), concern the affliction of the Nile and the land ... more
|
Appreciating Life
4/13/2002
|
Two questions: Why is it
that these parshiyos, which are almost entirely concerned with tsora’as,
begin with the parsha of laidah, of giving birth? Secondly, the opening
phrase, isha ki tazriah v’yalda zachar, makes it sound as if conception
is followed immediately by birth. Why doesn’t the Torah mention the ... more
|
Two Paths to HaShem
4/20/2002
|
The Midrash teaches that HaShem used the Torah as the blueprint for creating the
world; meaning that whatever exists in the world exists in the way it does only
because it first of all exists in the Torah. By the same token, whatever is found
in the Torah has its ... more
|
Torah and Chochmah
|
If Torah is to be Torah, it has
to make an impression on those who study it. That could be what Chazal mean when
they say that “If someone tells you there is wisdom among the nations, believe
him; but if he tells you that there is Torah among them, ... more
|
Sefiras HaOmer: A Lesson in Perfection
|
The Sforno points out that
some of the blemishes that disqualify animals for korbonos are actually
beneficial, and are even sometimes inflicted deliberately by their owners to
increase size and strength. Since these blemishes enhance the animal’s worth,
why do they disqualify it for the altar?
The Sforno answers that ... more
|
How They Saved Torah Shebe’al Peh
|
Perfection cannot exist in a vacuum. If I think that I can
reach perfection without perfecting others, I have missed the whole point.
That was the problem with Noach. “Noach tamim haya
b’dorosav, v’yesh dorshim l’gnai.” It is a criticism of Noach that he was
“perfect in his generation.” For how ... more
|
Shavuos: Ten Commandments of Creation
|
The utterances of HaShem—the
Asarah Ma’amaros of creation and the Aseres HaDibros of
Sinai—are the foundations of the world. Their complementarity is revealed by
the names they are called: Ma’amar is more abstract, softer, dibur
more concrete, stronger. One would think the opposite, that ... more
|
The Concept of Modesty (Part I)
|
Before we speak about the
concept of modesty itself, I’d like to devote some time to a discussion of the
related topic of yichud.
I remember, whenever my uncle—an old man in his late
70s—would visit us, he would stay in my study, where my older daughters have
their room, and ... more
|
The Concept of Modesty (Part II)
|
What is modesty? Is the human body something dirty or evil that has to be covered
up? If so, we should have to cover up the bodies of animals, too. In which case,
you wouldn’t be allowed to go to a zoo. Because if human bodies are dirty, certainly
the ... more
|
The Concept of Modesty (Part III)
6/8/2002
|
In three places in the Torah we find a particular concern with modesty. Firstly,
the mishkan: It was covered with three layers of material, including a veil in front
and a train in back, like a bride. In this context, modesty certainly cannot mean
the covering of something dirty or ... more
|
The Concept of Modesty (Part IV)
|
Why is that there are women today-who claim to be religious,
who claim to be believers in G-d and Torah-who clamor and have complaints about
their status as women in Judaism? Why do we have women who every Rosh Chodesh go
to the Western Wall in talis and tefilin, singing ... more
|
The Mitzvah of Living in Eretz Yisrael, Part 1
|
Is there a mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisrael? This question has long been disputed
by the greatest halachic authorities.
The Ramban says that it is a mitzvah to conquer and settle Eretz
Yisrael, and it applies in all generations. The Sefer HaCharedim, similarly, counts
it as a mitzvah d’oraisa that ... more
|
The Mitzvah of Living in Eretz Yisrael, Part 2
|
There is no doubt that living in Eretz Yisrael is something that involves a
tremendous amount of expense and hardship. Accordingly, there are three factors
that may exempt one from the mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz: finances, safety,
and one’s level of spirituality.
Will you be able to survive in Eretz ... more
|
The Three Weeks
|
Hilchos Aveilus reflects the normal emotional process that a person should
go through when a loved one dies. Until the burial, a person has the status, from
the Torah, of an onen. The first day of aveilus, after the burial,
is according to some also min haTorah. After that, essentially ... more
|
The Rule of Holiness
|
We live in a world where many times we are forced to witness the desecration of
the things which are most holy to us. Why do these things happen?
The answer is that when we don’t treat holy things with the
proper respect, they become vulnerable to desecration at the hands ... more
|
Why The Gedolim Are Taken From Us
|
The Roman rasha called in the gedolim and asked them: “What’s the
punishment for kidnapping and selling a person?” They replied: “The penalty is
death.” So he told them that their ancestors sold Yosef, and no one ever brought
them to justice. “You stand in their place, and you will ... more
|
Partners in Crime
8/17/2002
|
The Midrash says that there were two
reshayim who were
partners in crime their entire lives. One of them died and went to
Gehenom. He was
suffering there for many months, and then he saw his former partner's neshama
being escorted into Gan
Eden. So he calls over the
malach appointed
over Gehenom ... more
|
Three Aspects of Judgment
8/24/2002
|
The story is told of a person who came to shul on Yom Kippur,
and when it came time for vidui, the confession, the rabbi noticed that
he was banging with both his fists on his chest, like Tarzan. (Unlike the custom
we have to bang with one fist on ... more
|
Three Aspects of Judgment II
9/7/2002
|
In last week's issue, Rav Leff discussed the three aspects of G-d's judgment:
one's present spiritual level, his progress over time, and the development of
his unique potential. In this issue, he addresses the role of interpersonal
relationships in the scheme of judgment.
The Mishnah says that HaShem looks at each ... more
|
The Yetzer Hora, Part 1
|
The original snake was the epitome of material existence. It
was the most sophisticated creature that there could be, lacking a neshama.
It was almost human, sly and walking on two legs. It represented the most
refined, tempting manifestation of pure physicality; man without his spiritual
dimension. Because it had ... more
|
The Yetzer Hora, Part 2
|
Why is it that most people find snakes repellent? As in
everything else in the world that HaShem created, there is a reason for this. It
is because the snake is the embodiment of materialism for its own sake, which is
its misuse. Our loathing for these creatures serves to ... more
|
The Real Test of Lech Lecha
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We all know that HaShem’s
summons to Avraham Avinu to leave everything behind and travel to “the land that
I will show you” was one of the great trials of the founding father of Judaism.
But it is not at all clear why it should be considered a trial, a ... more
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When Giving is Really Giving (and when it's not)
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Avraham Avinu interrupts a moment of Divine revelation in
order to receive some guests. From this we learn that hachnasas orchim
(receiving guests) is greater than kabalas pnei hashechina (receiving the
Divine Presence). What we would have characterized as rudeness on a cosmic scale
becomes a moral example for all ... more
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Advice From The Dawn of Time
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G-d appeared to Avraham in the field of his friend Mamre.
Rashi informs us that Mamre’s name is mentioned here as a reward for advising
Avraham concerning bris milah. But, as the commentators ask, Why did
Avraham need advice? And if he did need advice, why did he ask three ... more
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Bamokom Sheba'ali Teshuvah Omdim
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Who is greater—the ba’al teshuva or the tzaddik? The Jew who
has sinned and repented, or the Jew who is pure and righteous? The Jew who has
returned to tradition from a secular background, or the one who came from an
observant family? Chazal tell us that the righteous cannot ... more
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Everybody A Ba’al Teshuvah
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There is a famous story about the student from Ohr Somayach who went to the
tish of the old Gerer Rebbe. He introduced himself to the Rebbe, saying,
“I’m learning at Ohr Somayach---but I’m not a ba’al teshuvah.” The Rebbe
looked him straight in the eye and said, “Why not?” ... more
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Love Your Neighbor
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Hillel and Rebbi Akiva both stated that “Love your neighbor” is a great
principle in the Torah. When the convert came to Hillel demanding that he teach
him the whole Torah on one foot, it was not a silly request. What he meant was
that he wished to be taught ... more
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Chanukah Insights
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The Midrash says on the verse in Shir HaShirim: Hadudaim
nasnu raiach (the mandrakes gave fragrance)—zeh Reuven shehitzil
es Yosef (this refers to Reuven, who saved Yosef). Hapischeinu kol
megadim (our doorways are laden with fine fruits)—zeh ner Chanukah (this
is the light of Chanukah). What do the dudaim (there ... more
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The Tenth of Teves and The Lesson of Vermaisa
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The Tenth of Teves is unique in that, unlike the other fasts
that are related to the destruction of the Temple, it relates only to the First
Temple. The Ninth of Av marks the destruction of both Temples; likewise, the
Seventeenth of Tammuz concerns the breaching of the walls of ... more
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The Mother Of All Morality
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We are commanded by the Torah to be fair and just. Yet, we
are taught to treat the non-Jew differently from the Jew, and in a way that does
not appear to be fair.
For example, it is permissible to lend money with interest to
a non-Jew (according to the ... more
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Jealousy
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The story is told of a person who came to a rav to ask him
what to do with a large quantity of very expensive liquor that he had forgotten
to sell before Pesach. They rav told him that the liquor was forbidden and that
he would have to spill ... more
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The Heart and Mind of Faith
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It was the Rambam's judgment that Aristotle reached the
highest level of wisdom that is possible for a human being to reach, short of
prophecy. Yet, we know that Aristotle did not believe in G-d. (It may be that he
did make some profession of faith late in life, but ... more
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A Reason To Sing: The Three Miracles of Krias Yam Suf
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Prior to Krias Yam Suf,
HaShem admonishes Moshe: "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to go."
There's no need for tefilah. Rashi explains that the sea would split in
the merit of their forefathers and the merit that they believed in HaShem and
followed Him into ... more
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The Art Of Blessing
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The Chazon Ish pointed out a common misconception about
bitachon: Many people think that bitachon means that whatever I trust
in HaShem to do, He will do. If I want it (badly enough); it will be. I wish;
therefore it is. On the contrary, said the Chazon Ish, the true ... more
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Free Will and The Fools of Rome
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The Gemora in Avoda Zara says that in the future G-d
is going to take a Sefer Torah in His arms, so to speak, and proclaim that
whoever has fulfilled what is written in it should come forward to claim his
reward. So the nations gather, and the Romans come ... more
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Seeing Is Believing
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Belief in G-d is basic, and we can all subscribe to it. But
there are different levels of belief. Many people profess a belief in G-d. In
Judaism we strive to make that belief a reality.
The story is told of an atheist falling off a cliff. And by
some miracle, ... more
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The Reality of Torah
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The Gemora tells us that “Noach was among those who are small
in faith. He believed and he didn’t believe. Only when he felt the waters at his
feet did he go into (the ark).” Rabbi Meir Bloch asked: Does this mean to say
that Noach, who had been building ... more
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A Three-Fold Path to Emunah
3/8/2003
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The Torah relates an extraordinary phenomenon at Sinai: the
Jewish people gathered at the mountain were able to hear the lightning, see the
thunder. What necessitated such unusual sensations? Wasn’t the word of G-d,
accompanied by thunder and lighting, sufficiently spectacular?
But perhaps the purpose of it was to impress upon ... more
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Remembering Amalek
3/15/2003
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The Midrash in Pirkei
d’Rabbi Eliezer asks: How could there be a mitzvah to remember what Amalek
did—But it says "Remember the Shabbos"? Answers the Midrash: One remembrance is
to sanctify, the other to destroy.
Why does the Midrash see a problem in remembering both Amalek
and Shabbos? Why can’t there ... more
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The Not-So-Simple Neshama
3/29/2003
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It is a common misconception that the human being is divided
into two more or less equivalent parts: body and soul, guf and neshama.
The spiritual composition identified by Jewish tradition is far more complex
than that.
Body is animated by spirit. All the biological functions,
physical and emotional drives, as ... more
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Problems: A Torah Approach
5/3/2003
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Problems are an unavoidable part of life. But they are not to be regretted; on
the contrary, they can be a source of strength, if one has the right approach.
There's a Midrash in Yalkut Melachim that says the eye sees from the black
of the eye, not the white. A ... more
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Not-So-Great Expectations
5/10/2003
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Most people, including myself, expect everything to go our way, and become upset
when they don't. All the years I've been a rav, nobody has ever come to me and said,
"Rabbi, I got up this morning and I feel fine, my wife and kids are fine... How
come?" Nobody ... more
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The Problem of Having Only One Eye
5/17/2003
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Bilaam had only one eye, and all he saw with it was bad. Unfortunately, most
of us are a little like Bilaam: our perception of things is all too often one-dimensional,
and it's the negative side that occupies our field of vision.
The Gemora enjoins us to calculate the loss incurred ... more
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It May Be Bitter, But It Isn't Bad
5/24/2003
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Acceptance is an essential strategy in coping with problems. Some problems are not
amenable to solution, and some form of acceptance is necessary if we are not to
succumb to frustration and anger.
There are two basic kinds of acceptance: one is called sovlanut, the other
savlanut. One means patience, the other ... more
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From Disneyworld to the Next World
6/7/2003
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What does a person do when he realizes that his time in this world is running
out? Some give in to despair. Others go on fatalistic last flings. It's the idea
that one might as well enjoy things as much as possible while there's still time.
It's the same spirit that ... more
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Knowledge and Torah
6/14/2003
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For Torah to be Torah, it has to make an impression on the person who learns it,
because Torah is, by definition, knowledge that leads to ahavas Hashem and
yiras Hashem. Chazal tell us (Aycha Rabbah 2) that if somebody says
to you that the nations of the world possess knowledge, ... more
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