יום שבת, א׳ תשרי תשפ״זSaturday, September 12, 2026
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By Rafi Hecht
While a few, such as certain Amoraim and Natronoi Gaon, retained access, it became almost exclusive to non-Jewish royalty. The last known Jewish mention came from the Ramban in the 13th century, who noted that the Melech Goyim – possibly James I of Aragon – still wore it in his day.
When the spies returned with a bunch of grapes so big it could only be carried by ten people and one fig which could hardly be carried by one person, instead of praising the land which grew such produce, they became concerned that the price of such opulence was too expensive and that they would not be able to afford to pay for it with mitzvot.
Everything, from quarks to consciousness, emanates from Divine will and intellect.
Think about this for a moment. They were just about to enter Eretz Yisrael and Eldad and Meidad's prophecy revealed that Moshe would die and Yehoshua would lead Bnei Yisrael into the land flowing with milk and honey. Did this phase Moshe? Not in the least.
The Beis HaMikdash is the point where the spiritual heavens kiss the physical earth…this is where the infinite and spiritual meet the finite and physical.
It’s vital that a fielder and batter know how many outs there are. Whether a fielder will make a play to second or decide to hold the runner, and whether a runner will be running if there is a pop-up, depends on how many outs there are.
I acknowledge that I shouldn’t have left the skateboard there, Simcha responded, but you should have looked where you were running. You sent the skateboard rolling!
Was She Really Married? ‘One Said Two… The Other Said Three…’ (Shevuos 48a)
Some 200 years ago, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov wrote a statement that I find amazing: The time will come when being an upright and simple person will be as revolutionary as being the Baal Shem Tov.
If one ate a quantity that would usually serve as the mainstay of a meal for other people, he blesses HaMotzi and recites Birkat HaMazon even if he was not satiated.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
The trouble is that if the leader is a parent, then the followers remain children. They are totally dependent on him. They do not develop skills of their own. They do not acquire a sense of responsibility or the self-confidence that comes from exercising it.
If a person ploughs his field when it is time to plow, sows his seeds when it is time to sow, reaps his produce when it is time to reap , thrashes his grain when it is time to thrash and winnows the grain when it is time to winnow, when will he have time to learn Torah? (Berachos 35b).
We cannot totally control our sustenance – not the food we eat, nor the money we earn.
In our time, back in 1982, the costliest battle of the war in Lebanon claimed the lives of about 30 IDF soldiers on this date. Thus, the 20th of Sivan is indeed a tragic day. You can find Selichot written for the day in some siddurim.
This is Judaism’s unique gift: the slow accumulation of wisdom through repeated encounters with Torah. Not through theoretical lectures, but through real life examples.
Every time we discover a new Torah deMoshe MiSinai, an unprovenanced edict associated colloquially with Moshe, we are reaffirming our connection to that primary source of all Torah and to Moshe who passed it on to us.
Home is not where you live, but where they understand you.— Christian Morgenstern
He leaped off the jeep, shouting that he’d take the next one.
Know Hashem in all your ways – serious or inconsequential – for every ounce of success comes from Hashem.
You lost that transcendent connection to oneness so that you could journey through life to rebuild it.
I believe that the books that are opened on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur contain the more permanent decrees and judgments of our fate for the rest of our lives or death, be that as it may.
If he never davened, it will be very challenging for him to start getting into the habit of doing so. If a person goes through the motions, however, even without feeling it, when the inspiration eventually sets in, it will be far easier for him to become a serious ben Torah.
Gifts or bonuses should only be given collectively by the class as a group. Individual gifts during the school year can create discomfort and an unintended sense of favoritism.
By Adina Perez
I was stunned. Everything had lined up so perfectly. My heart cried, This was your chance! But my conscience said otherwise. I was stunned. Everything had lined up so perfectly. My heart cried, This was your chance! But my conscience said otherwise.
On one occasion, Reuven demanded payment in the presence of witnesses. I admit fully that I owe you $500, replied Hillel, but unfortunately I’m still not able to pay you; my financial situation remains very difficult.
A Talmida Chachama ‘If He Is A Scholar, He Is Not Sworn’ (Shavuos 41a)
As we are taught, Ein tzaddik ba’aretz asher yaaseh tov v’lo yecheta – There is no righteous person in this world who does good and doesn’t sin, there is certainly what to worry about.
We have been here before. We have seen how quickly the world turns. How Jewish suffering is minimized. How our tears are measured against the political utility of those who hate us.
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiva’s students. If he was so great, we must assume that they were of a superior caliber. If so, why such a harsh punishment? Zelig Aronson Queens, N.Y.
The sedra has 2,264 words and 8,632 letters. Even though Naso’s pesukim are well below average in length (in number of words or letters), it still ranks #1 in all categories.
The students who harassed Jewish students, destroyed property, disrupted classes, and ruined graduations with their blood libels against our nation. Your misguided protests have blurred the lines between truth and falsehood.
Wealth can also lead one astray: Wealth hoarded by its owner is to his detriment (Koheles 5:12). Avshalom was blessed with beautiful hair (Sotah 11a) and Shimshon was blessed with strength, but these attributes led them astray.
Parshat Naso, as you know, is the longest single parsha in the Torah. In most years, Naso follows Shavuot, which is appropriate – once we receive the Torah, the next thing is to dive straight in and begin reading the longest parsha in the Torah. There are 176 pesukim in Parshat Naso. An interesting […]
With regard to the Birkas Kohanim, the Zohar comments that actions performed in this earthly world inspire astounding conduct in Heaven. When the Kohanim spread their fingers to bless the Jewish people, it rouses the Divine Presence to dwell upon His people.
Israel is blessed in the merit of the three fathers, also in whose merit the Torah was given.
Everyone wants to contribute something significant to the world; to play a meaningful part in the cosmic symphony we call life. This desire is an inherent part of being human.
We see that it is a Torah value to maintain composure, even under the most dire circumstances. When we look at the commentaries, we see different ideas as to why this is so, each reflecting on the human condition. Rashi says that remaining calm rattles and humiliates the enemy.
If we want to savor life, the only way is to slow things down.
Our response now must be as it like at Har Sinai, to turn to one another with a sense of oneness, love, and unity and to wish each other chazak
How many people choose to politely confront the people they’ve been hurt by without bearing a grudge, stewing, seeking revenge or sulking?
It’s not my fault that the Chofetz Chaim card was ruined; it’s your loss!
Just as Hashem spoke the world into being, perhaps He wrote His will into our very cells.
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiva’s students. If he was so great, we can assume that his students were of a superior caliber as well. How did they rate such a harsh punishment? Zelig Aronson Queens, N.Y.
Like in an election, the division of the land among the twelve tribes had to be supervised by officials who made sure that there would be no fraud involved in allocating the land.
Pesach and Shavuot...represent the liberation of the body and the liberation of the mind, respectively.
Shavuot commemorates the day when we all gathered at Har Sinai to receive the Torah, “as one person with one heart", meaning that we stood together in perfect unity. How tragic it is that it takes an attack from our enemies to make us feel unified.
The road to Gehinnom is paved with good intentions – such as the unwarranted benefit of the doubt that too-credulous well-intended leaders and negotiators give their undeserving counterparts.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
But the Torah is not mere history as a sequence of events. The Torah is about the truths that emerge through time.
Since the case of early second night Yom Tov involves infringing on a holier day for the sake of a less holy one, it seems more analogous to davening Motzaei Shabbat Maariv and reciting havdalah after plag on Shabbat afternoon.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.— Proverb (widely attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux)
How do Torah scholars make more peace in the world?
R’ Elazar states that all agree, though, that on the holiday of Shavuos, we are obligated to eat and drink because it is the day on which the Torah was given. R’ Shimshon Nachmani, the renowned Zera Shimshon, notes that this conclusion seems paradoxical. We would think that the day commemorating the giving of the Torah would be dedicated solely to spirituality, to Torah study.
We do not simply remember what once occurred, we relive the experience as we tap back into the power of kabbalas haTorah.
To deserve the name Numbers, this week’s sedra contains numbers galore – starting with a count of the adult male population of each of the 12 tribes, with a total of 603,550 men age 20 and up.
Shouldn’t Shavuot’s commemoration of Matan Torah mandate a spiritual celebration?
If one can embrace it without compromising the rest of the day, the experience of Torah learning on this night can deepen one’s connection to Torah for the whole year to come.
The total weight of the shulchan with the lechem hapanim was over 551 pounds.
Start And Final ‘Aleph Lamed Chol, Yud Keh Kodesh’ (Shavuos 35b)
The conflict between different parts of our mind and the denial of certain thoughts provide a tidy explanation for the contradictory ways in which people behave.
Yerushalayim was and always will be a city of unity — but unity of what? What do “Yeru” and “Shalem” each represent?
A promise is a promise and it'll only take me a minute, I can surely do this without any problems!
If you wouldn’t have a spare copy, you’d have to pay cash, so it’s not fair to make me accept your spare copy!
Posthaste ‘And He Simply Uttered Bread’ (Shavuos 26b)
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiva’s students. If he was so great, we can assume that his students were of a superior caliber as well. How did they rate such a harsh punishment? Zelig Aronson Queens, N.Y.
In a city torn by conflict, we remember: Yerushalayim is meant to unite us – with each other, and with Hashem.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Words can injure and inspire. Words can bless or curse. Words can create new moral facts, such as when we make a promise.
Indeed the laws of Shemittah were meant to be given at Har Sinai because the original plan was that we would enter the land of Israel a short while later, not forty years later.
Unlike the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land, the return to Zion in modern times has been a natural event within the confines of nature.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
“Torah study without an occupation will in the end fail and lead to sin.” Avot 2:2
One possible explanation that Rashi finds in the Midrash is that all of the general principles were received at Har Sinai; however, many of the specifics were taught by Moshe in the land of Moav immediately before the crossing of the Yarden.
Faith is not certainty. It is the courage to live with uncertainty.— Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Torah does not have a set place. It can be found anywhere. It should be found everywhere.
When a person appears before the Heavenly Court, he is asked whether he properly fulfilled the mitzvah of you shall strengthen him.
With the third double sedra in four weeks, it’s a good time to take a closer look at the double sedra story.
What is this oath that was made at Mount Sinai? We might assume that it is referring to the covenant that the Jewish people made there. While not literally an oath, and certainly not one actually made by each inhabitant of every century, it is somehow considered binding on the entire people and its descendants.
Words can injure and inspire. Words can bless or curse. Words can create new moral facts, such as when we make a promise.
Perhaps when [Mashiach] comes, we will all sing hava nagila together.
Detach yourself from the illusions of this world and focus on the true realities of the world and Who determines them…. Today you do not take care of yourselves, I take care of you.
The light of togetherness, commitment and Torah in action will help us move toward the receiving of the Torah that Jews commemorate on Shavuot.
By Talya Gross
The front of the car where the engine was had burnt to a crisp, and all the windows were shattered.
I don’t see why this should be ribbis. I’m not gaining anything; I’m just recouping my loss...
K’vod HaBriyos – Human Dignity ‘… Excluding Where He Was Preoccupied’ (Shavuos 18b-19a)
Have an enjoyable Lag B’Omer, beautiful Shabbat and a joyous and safe Chag Shavuot.
Question: Were these individuals allowed to lead the congregation in counting sefirah? I also wonder, in general, if everyone may be trusted to lead the counting. What if someone forgot to count on one of the previous nights but does not inform anyone of this? Name withheld Via E-mail
One who truly loves Hashem, loves everything He creates. By loving and showing respect to His creations, we, in essence, show respect to Hashem Himself.
As we exist in the world and interact with it, we receive input and understand our surroundings by means of the data we collect, chiefly by way of our senses. But because we also have the ability to communicate with one another, we learn much useful information about the world from each another.
By Tzvi Fishman
The bonfires of Lag B’Omer symbolize the secrets of Torah which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai revealed.
When Yosef related his dreams to his brothers and to his father, his brothers became jealous of him. Not his father. His father shamar es ha’davar, kept it in mind and looked forward to the time when Yosef’s dreams would come true (Rashi to Bereishis 37:11).
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
The holy spaces had to be kept free of conditions that bespoke mortality.
Joy in Judaism is not hedonic; it is redemptive, cathartic, and spiritual.— Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Rebbe Akiva. He is the Jewish hero par excellence, which means that, on some level, his life story encapsulates the values and ideals of the Jewish people. And yet, perhaps not coincidentally, he lived in the shadow of death.
In Pirkei Avot, we find the statement, Schar mitzvah, mitzvah – the reward for doing a mitzvah is the mitzvah itself. Or perhaps it means that the reward for doing a mitzvah is another mitzvah to do.
Based on one’s Torah stature in the community [one] must conduct himself beyond the measure of the law.
We must know that the mitzvah of kavod haTorah is even greater than learning Torah. As the Gemara in Masechtas Megilla in the first perek states categorically that while learning Torah does not supersede the hearing of the megillah, giving honor to the Torah does.
September 11, 2026 
