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It is also good to transform Torah into prayer; when you study Torah or hear a Torah discours...
“I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own h...
“Then Judah approached him and said: ‘Please, my master, let me speak a word to my master. Do...
I recently received the following insight in an email from an anonymous contributer: A though...
Old Zalman the beggar was standing before the Baal Shem Tov with his head hung in shame tryin...
It is written that God told Moses, “I will take away My hand, you will see My back, but My fa...
Let every one of our group, if he is occupied during the whole day with running after his liv...
Every man of Israel, when he is in the synagogue or the study hall and involved in Torah stud...
“The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am God.' I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to...
“The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am God' (Exodus 6:2).” God, Who makes all happen...
“The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am God' (Exodus 6:2).” Why does the Torah not te...
We merit reabsorption into our spiritual roots, once again becoming part of the Unity of God,...
“You will direct their heart, You will cause Your ear to attend (Psalms 10:17).” This means t...
When you perform a mitzvah for the sake of heaven, to fulfill the wishes of God, Who spoke an...
“His sister stationed herself at a distance to know what would be done with him (Exodus 2:4)....
“And Israel said to Joseph, ‘I had no longer thought “lo fillalti,” it possible to see your ...
If you look through the packet that you have, and this is just part one, you’ll see selection...
It may seem awkward to recite the words of Tefilah out of a Siddur; it’s like reading from a ...
“Blessed are You Hashem … Who fashioned man with wisdom and created within him many openings ...
“Keep far away from a bad neighbor (Avot 1:7).” Nowadays, in the time of exile, attaining the...
“She opened it and saw him, the child, and behold! A youth was crying. She took pity on him a...
“The time approached for Israel to die (Genesis 47:29).” The Ari haKadosh writes as follows: ...
“Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords are stolen weapons of violence. Let me not enter ...
“You have donned majesty and splendor; cloaked in light as with a garment, stretching out the...
“Aaron shall burn upon it the incense spices every morning; when he cleans the lamps he is to...
One of the most common phrases in our daily prayer is, “May it be Your will.” The Abudirham t...
Leaving Israel, standing in line at Ben Gurion Airport, I saw a long-line of obviously blind ...
“The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am God.' I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to...
Prayer which is not wholehearted is pursued by numbers of destructive Angels, according to th...
“Render might to the Lord, Whose majesty hovers over Israel and Whose might is in the clouds....
“The eyes of all look to You with hope and You give them their food in its proper time; You o...
There is yet another righteous way, available to all and easily accessible, to arouse and kin...
We are required to believe completely in Divine Providence, which is the source of everything...
“He said to his people, 'Behold! The people, the Children of Israel are more numerous and str...
Why do we spend so much time in the blessings of the morning Shema describing and praising th...
“And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years ha...
“For He alone is exalted and holy, effects mighty deeds, makes new things, is Master of wars,...
“For He alone is exalted and holy, effects mighty deeds, makes new things, is Master of wars,...
See: “Through His Greatness.” We say the Shema, “Hear O Israel, God is our Lord, God is a Uni...
The blessings of the morning Shema begin, “Who forms light and creates darkness, makes peace ...
“With a great love have You loved us.” For only one who truly loves the Holy One, Blessed is ...
“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Exodus 6:3).” The reason God did not lump the...
“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as 'E-l Sha-ddai', but with My Name 'God' I di...
The Talmud concludes that the words, “My Master, open You my lips,” recited at the beginning ...
“She opened it and saw him, the child, and behold! A youth was crying. She took pity on him a...
“A man went from the house of Levi and he took a daughter of Levi.” We are taught that she wa...
“The King of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the first was Shifra and ...
“A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know of Joseph (Exodus 1:8).” If the enslavement of...
“Then Judah approached him and said: ‘Please, my master, let me speak a word to my master. Do...
“Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the wagons that ...
“‘I am the Power, the Lord of your father,” He said. ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, f...
“Even as father treats his beloved daughter, hugging, caressing her, and giving her presents,...
Whenever you look at a physical thing, you should contemplate that you are also looking at an...
The Baal Shem Tov offered the following analogy: When a parent teaches his child to walk, he ...
“Be favorable, God, our Lord, toward Your people Israel, turn to their prayer and restore the...
The cry of the Children of Israel to God when they were in Egypt was because of the fear of p...
It is written, “And she (the Shunammite) said to her husband, ‘Behold now, I know that this i...
“A Redeemer shall come to Zion and to those of Jacob who repent from willful sin, the words o...
There are times when I find myself davening with a different minyan or using a different Sidd...
The Torah tells us that before sending Moshe and Aharon on their mission, G-d spoke to them a...
Moshe Rabbeinu prays to Hashem to remove the plagues. With the exception of the plague of fro...
“When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, 'show for yourselves a wonder' (Exodus 7:9).” The...
“And God said to Moses, 'See, I have set you in the Lord's stead to Pharaoh' (Exodus 7:1).” W...
The function of the Mishkan is the settling of the Divine Presence in Israel. Thus it is writ...
It is written, “I will bring you into the land, which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abrah...
Why were the wicked, such as Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the Holy Temple, punis...
Imagine, for a moment, the word beautiful spoken in Hebrew, Yiddish, French and a half-dozen ...
Rav Tzadok tells us a klal (rule) that every word written in the Torah is true. What he is sa...
“...and the staff of Aharon swallowed their staffs” (7:12) Hashem commanded Moshe and Aharon ...
“Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Say to Aharon…” (7:19) Hashem commanded Moshe to defer to Aharon the ...
One of the strangest passages in all of Torah is found in Parshat Shemot: 18 Moshe left and r...
Three different words are used to describe the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart: Kasheh - I wil...
The 2nd of Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Mansour BenSHimon, author of Shemen HaMaor (1998) K...
The passuk says ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם I will take you as my nation. The Avnei Neizer points out ...
When Moshe complained to God in the conclusion of the previous portion he addressed God as A-...
“For this time I shall send all My plagues against your heart, and upon your servants, and yo...
The 29th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin (1818-1898), the Rav of Brisk,...
“This time I have sinned. God is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the wicked ones. ...
Of all the mitzvos that Hashem could have chosen to be the first one given to B'nei Yisro...
"Aharon took Elisheva daughter of Aminadav, sister of Nachshon..."(6:23) We find the genealog...
"Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them regarding the Children of Israel..." (6:...
Moses was familiar with the divine master plan and saw each prophecy within the context of th...
“Thereupon Moses answered Pharaoh, ‘Try to glorify yourself above me; for which time shall I ...
Dever – Plague: “Then God said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says God, the ...
The 26th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Avraham Chaim of Zlotchov, author of Orach LeChaim ...
Rosh Chodesh Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Moshe Yechiel Halevi Epstein from Ozerov (1890-19...
“Moses cried out to God concerning the “D’var” – the matter of the frogs he had inflicted upo...
The 29th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Noah Shmuel Lipshitz, author of Zer Zahav. He die...
The 29th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, chief rabbi of the British E...
It states: "The hail and the rain did not reach the earth." God suspended them in midair....
You know my darling friends, when we read about leaving Mitzrayim the first thing G-d says is...
G’neivas Da’as: One shudders at the potential of chas veshalom opening up a Pandora’s Box of ...
In Parsha Va'eira we learn about the first 7 plagues and the hardening of Pharoh's heart. Se...
On closer inspection we find the three groups of plagues are in intimate relation to the thre...
“Blessed are You Hashem … Who fashioned man with wisdom and created within him many opening...
"Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them regarding the Children of Israel..."...
"I have surely seen the affliction of My people..." that in all of their subsequent exiles, t...
The 27th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Frankfurt am Main, Germany...
The 25th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Moshe Tzvi Gitterman of Savran (1775-1838). Known a...
The 24th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Shmuel Borenstein, the Shem MiShmuel from Sochatsho...
The 24th of Tevet is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Mordechai Gifter (1915-2001). Born in Richmond, Vir...
“Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh – it will become a snake!” (Exodus 7:9) The ...
Throughout the Ten Makos (Plagues), God told Moshe and Aaron to do certain things and they di...
Hashem (G-d) directed Moshe to tell Aaron to administer the first three plagues (Exodus 7:...
The Rabbi says you should have two versions of a speech just in case, so here's the short ver...
Lessons To Be Learned: Ezekiel 28:25 – 29:21 What was the matter with the Children of Is...
We began our discussion of the laws of cooking on Shabbat in, “Cooking With the Miraculous.” ...
Watching my wife develop her business, Las Delicias Patisserie, has me thinking of Bishul-Ofe...
We left off “The Music of Halacha: Learning How to Hate Part One,” with the following questio...
“There are three whom the Holy One, Blessed is He, hates: One who says one thing with his mou...
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”...
The Theme of the Plagues Each plague is described as having a different purpose. Blood: 7:1...
Parsha Hound Where is there a hint in this portion that Moses was not destined to enter Is...
I recently heard a noted rabbi mention that not giving charity leads to illness, and that a f...
In a recent Music of Halacha, you described the issue of a husband lying to his wife. I recal...
I have been having a great deal of difficulty motivating myself to study more and harder. I w...
I went to see a “Miracle Working” Kabbalist, against your counsel, and was blown away by the ...
I can’t believe I happened on your website after so many years. I don’t know if you remember ...
You responded to a story about someone who kashered his house because a kabbalist promised hi...
Is it true that you told someone that fear of animals is a result of sin? AYG It’s almost tru...
You said that eating can be an excellent way to practice the laws of Bein Adam l’Chaveiro, In...
When I was a Yeshiva bochur many years ago, there was a sense that being sad about, and frust...
If a person’s heart is on his right side, does he wear his Hand Tefillin, that point to his h...
I have read that fasting is an important step in achieving atonement for many things, and tha...
"The entire world is nourished in the merit of My son Chanina"1The Baal Shem Tov taught: This...
"When you go out to wage war against your enemy, G·d will deliver him into your hands, and yo...
The Baal Shem Tov taught: Jacob, with his inner vision, realized the absolute necessity of th...
"There is none like out G·d . . . Who is like our G·d . . . let us praise our G·d . . . bless...
"The master symbolists (sorcerers) tried to produce lice with their hidden arts (incantations...
“Hear, my child, and take my sayings, that the years of your life be many. I teach you in the...
For I was a son to my father, a tender only child for my mother. ...
“Let your heart hold on to my words, keep my commands and live (Proverbs 4:4).” Our Rabbis ta...
“For I was a son to my father, a tender only child for my mother.” As the youngest of six, I ...
We begin the fourth Proverb with a translation based on “The Wisdom Books” by Robert Alter No...
In the blessing for the new month, which we recite on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Chodesh, we ...
“A life in which there is fear of heaven and fear of sin.” Why do we ask for both? Does not f...
“A life of wealth and honor.” The honor for which we pray is not our own, but the honor of He...
“A life in which we will have love of Torah in fear of Heaven.” Although we have already pray...
“He Who performed miracles for our forefathers and redeemed them from slavery to freedom; may...
“May He redeem us soon and gather in our dispersed from the four corners of the earth.” The T...
“All Israel becoming comrades.” The midrash (Song of Songs, Chapter 8) eaches, “Only the Mini...
We recite Kiddush twice on Shabbat, on Friday night and again on Shabbat morning. While the t...
“Issachar is a mighty donkey lying down among the saddlebags. When he sees how good is his re...
It is well known that on Shabbat we refrain from performing 39 Melachot. But in truth, it oug...
Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yose: One who takes pleasure on Shabbat is given a r...
Pharaoh heard about this matter and sought to kill Moses; so Moses fled from before Pharaoh a...
“God benefited the midwives, and the people increased and became very strong (Exodus 1:20).” ...
“Pharaoh asked him, ‘How many are the days of your life?’ (Genesis 47:8).” Rather than ask Ja...
“Illuminate our eyes in Your Torah.” The theme we are using this Shabbat is how Shabbat is an...
“Who illuminates all the world and its inhabitants.” The theme we are using this Shabbat is h...
“You sanctified the seventh day for Your Name’s sake, the conclusion of the creation of heave...
In order to achieve proper Dveikut with God it is necessary to indulge matter, for otherwise ...
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There is a definite connection to be seen between Shabbat and Brit Milah. For one thing, Brit...
“Safeguard” and “Remember” - in a single utterance, the Unified and Unique Power made heard t...
In many communities the congregation pauses after Kabbalat Shabbat to recite a chapter of Mis...