Continue

Once again, …

Continue

Continue

Continue

Dear Yishai AMUSH,

Best wishes to Malkah, Leah Bat Zion and your cohort at INR/A7. Hope all is well and pre-Pesach preparations are going well. The Pesach Cleaning show was a great idea and worthy of taking credit for as a…

Continue

Pesach

At the beginning of the Haggada ("Avadim Hayinu") we read the following:

"Even if all of us were wise, all of us understanding, all of us aged, all of us knowledgeable in Torah, we would still be commanded to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and whoever expands upon the…

Continue

Pesach

Continue

Tzav

In this week's parsha the torah continues discussing korbanos (sacrifices)...

The Torah (7;1-2) relates that Hashem told Moshe to command Aharon and his sons to offer sacrifices.…

Continue

Continue

Vayikra



In this week's parsha we begin discussing the laws of korbanot (sacrifices).



Firstly, why were these sacrifices able to atone for our sins (see: 1;4)?



Secondly, Rashi (2;1) states: "Hashem said, although the poor man's offering is modest, I consider it on his behalf, as if he offered his soul." Why did Hashem only consider it as though the poor offered their souls--surely the offerings of the wealthy were greater!?!



Lastly,… Continue

Vayakhel/Pekudei



The Torah (38;8) states: "He made the Kiyyor of copper and its pedestal of copper, with the mirrors of the women who congregated at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting."



Rashi (38;8) relates: "The daughters of Israel had in their possession copper mirrors which they would look into when they would beautify themselves. Even those mirrors they did not withhold from bringing for the contribution toward the Mishkan. But Moshe rejected them… Continue

How one ends is at least if not more important than how one begins. The Passover Seder begins with ritual and ceremony the family, friends and guests are gathered in an air of anticipation. After Four cups of wine, reciting the Haggadah with everyone’s observations and insights, copious amounts of carefully measured Mazta, bitter herbs and followed by a sumptuous meal, Afikomon, Elijah’s cup…

Continue

Continue

Aside from a commandment to tell the story of the Exodus the Haggadah “In every generation one should view oneself as though one had personally participated in the [Historic] Exodus . . . ” Earlier in the text it states “ If G-D had not taken our ancestors from Egypt then us and our children would still be servile to Egypt . . . . ”…

Continue

Ki Tisa

In this week's parsha the nation of Israel commit the grave sin of the Golden Calf.

This sin was so serious that the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 102a) states: "There is no punishment that comes upon Israel which does not have in it some retribution for the sin of the golden calf."

Once Moshe descended the mountain and became aware of their sin he went to seek forgiveness from Hashem on behalf of the…

Continue

Continue

Moshe in the aftermath of the Golden Calf debacle seeks to know G-D on a deeper level (see Shemoth 33:12-16). G-D responds to Moshe Our Teacher A’H THAT “ . . . I shall cause the totality of My goodness top pass in front of you and shall call out in the transcendent name of G-D and I shall grant grace to those I shall bestow grace and compassion upon those who I grant compassion.”…

Continue