The Midrash explains that there were 4 different responses Bnei Yisroel had when faced with Pharos army: Retreat to Egypt. Give up and die. Jump in the water and swim to safety. Fight back. All these responses were wrong. So often we are faced with challenges, difficulties, anxieties. We plan for every eventuality and [...]
At the beginning of this week’s parsha (and twice in last week’s parsha) Moshe is instructed to warn Pharaoh about the next plague. The phrase that is used is בא אל פרעה - “Come to Pharaoh”. The question is, since Hashem was sending Moshe to speak to Pharaoh surely it should say לך אל [...]
(in the name of Rabbi Adam Siegel in the name of Rabbi Shapiro) When the brothers brought Joseph's coat to Jacob, Jacob said, a wild animal, a " חיה רעה " ate him. Rashi points out that he was not wrong, that he had ruach hakodesh and saw that Potifar's wife was a wild [...]
Avraham just finished doing akaidas yitzchak, one of the most powerful spiritual experiences ever. Right after that, the Torah talks about Nachor and all the children that he had. Why? From spiritual heights to a man that worships avoda Zara? Maybe it's to teach that even if you are on a high level and [...]
This week it says in לך-לך the following words. “ ואברהם בן-תשעים ותשע שנה בהמלו בשר ערלתו ” Rashi states a beautiful pshat saying that Avraham took the knife in one hand, and his עורלה in the other, about to cut but then became afraid and feared, that since he was old it wouldn’t [...]
"So now, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel… (31:19)" Chazal derive from this pasuk that each person is required to write a Sefer Torah for himself. Even if one inherited a Sefer Torah or received one as a gift, he is nevertheless still obligated to write one. [...]
The pasuk in Shemos says that Hashem heard our voices when we were crying in Egypt (not our actual prayers). This seems odd: If Hashem is able to hear our prayers which have meaning, why would he listen to our “voices” and not our tefilos? The answer is actually quite simple! While most human [...]
ויקרא פרעה אל משה ויאמר לכו עבדו את ה פסוק זה עוסק אחרי מכת חושך כתב שהשם קרא למשה כשבמכות האחרות היה כתוב למשה ואהרן הכלי יקר מסביר; שה ’ ידע מתי שנולד משה נמלאה כל הבית אורה ושהיה סימן לעתיד שהיה לו סגולה להביא אור במקום חשך . -שבת שלום
Why would someone sell his birthright, which was worth an incalculable amount both spiritually and monetarily, for a bowl of stew? Esav gladly did so and then justified it because he was one day going to pass away. Sadly, this is the similar rationale we use ourselves when we want to engage in any unhealthy [...]
פרשתנו פרשת ''במדבר'' ניצבת לה בשערו של החומש הרביעי, ואין לך שער טוב יותר לבוא בו לחג השבועות מאשר פרשתנו. השנה, הפרשה והחג סמוכים זה לזה ברצף, ונוטעים בנו תחושה וידיעה של קדושת זמן מרוכזת. אחד מיסודות הרצף והקשר בין שבת ''במדבר'' לחג השבועות הוא עניינה של פעולת הספירה. בפרשתנו מתוארת ספירה של מיפקד אוכלוסין, [...]