יום שלישי, ד׳ תשרי תשפ״זTuesday, September 15, 2026
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Rabbeinu Yonah (Gerondi), most famously known for his Sefer Shaarei Teshuvah, writes how worthy is the individual who observes the protective restraints that were instituted to guard the fulfillment of the mitzvos, over and above his actual performance of the mitzvah itself.
If you have been settled in Eretz Yisrael already for four or more generations and your farm is producing steadily, blessed by Divine abundance, you begin to take it for granted.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach
It is unclear exactly where everything goes on the shulchan. When the two stacks of breads and two bowls of levonah are arranged on it, there is no place for anything else, let alone baking pans, bowls, pipes, etc.
Once they asked a wise man to talk about his greatest dream. He answered that he had many dreams and professional aspirations, but above all he wanted to be a better father, a better husband, a better son, and a better grandson. At the end of his life, a person can leave many achievements behind, […]
You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. -Andrew Jackson
Abarbanel says that the Children of Israel are not compared to grains of sand simply because they are so many. Lots of things occur in great numbers but Israel isn’t compared to them.
Our Sages expound that granting merit to the many (zikui harabbim) is inherently infinitely beneficial.
When we think this Shavuos about the revelation at Sinai, let’s remember that the Torah was given surprisingly in the midst of billowing smoke and blackness.
That HaShem forgoes His Honor for the sake of making peace between man and wife comes to teach us the importance of humbling our own egos for the sake of making our relationships work.
Even within large groups, or even within an entire nation, each individual has a special place and a unique mission. Each person is important.
The multitude which is not brought to act as a unity, is confusion. That unity which has not its origin in the multitude is tyranny. -Blaise Pascal
Every mitzvah you perform heals some spiritual malaise that you might not even know you were suffering from.
It is every individual’s obligation to toil in Torah so that he can soar even higher than the angels.
We should train ourselves to look forward to doing our mitzvos. The premier example of this attitude is the mitzvah of sefira. That on a national level we demonstrate in unison an excited countdown towards Torah.
A people's army is necessary for Israel to fulfill the Divine commandment of sovereignty over our land.
Rabbi Greenblatt remembers that the rav stood in tallit and tefillin, looked him in the eyes, and gave him a blessing that he should become a talmid chacham and merit to live a long life. The second blessing materialized, he smiled, I hope the first did, too.
Statistics seemingly is the human species’ greatest defense mechanism. It allows us to live “normal” lives of stability and security.
Yirmiyahu knows that Hashem is all-powerful and that He is not limited by geopolitical and military realities. If Hashem wishes to reverse the process of conquest and cancel the exile, it is within His power to do so.
It is the first of all problems for a man to find out what kind of work he is to do in this universe. -Thomas Carlyle
The Doresh Tzion explains that Eretz Yisrael is acquired by the Jewish nation only in the merit of the Torah that was given at Har Sinai. If they abandon the ways of the Torah, then their entitlement to Eretz Yisrael is withdrawn as well.
You have two people who spent their Sunday night from 8 to 9 p.m. One administered the Heimlich maneuver and saved a person from choking and another person attended the Daf Yomi. In the scales of merit, it is the latter person who comes out on top.
If we had Har Sinai today, the contemporary form of the mitzvah of Shemittah would not apply to farmers, but to computer engineers, doctors, graphics artists, lawyers, stockbrokers and businessmen.
Man is a synthesis of his nefesh habahamis (the animal soul), which has physical needs, and his G-dly soul (nefesh haElokis). Man’s mission is to elevate his nefesh habahamis to function in the realm of his nefesh haElokis.
We are accustomed to transitioning from the sadness of Memorial Day to the joy of Independence Day, but how do we transition in the opposite direction, from independence to mourning?
The Arizal teaches that the firstborn ought to have had the priesthood by right, except that Kayin abused this privilege and it was revoked from him as a result of his grave transgression.
Parallel to the technical, scientific research I discovered many realities that are not intuitively apparent, but when you dig deeper, you begin to truly appreciate.
The pernicious difficulty of keeping self-love in check and not having it warp the way in which we see others is brought to our attention in the story of R. Elazar
Rabbi Weiss: The Hebrew word ‘leitz’ is made up of a lamed and a tzadik which means ‘learned’ and righteous’ for the scoffer thinks that he knows better and that he is really in the right.
During those years, many who came to America had no interest in continuing the sacred Torah traditions. R’ Yaakov Yosef dedicated his life to bringing back many who had fallen into a life of sin.
The fifth of Iyar marks not only Israel's victory against England but also the day we fulfilled the collective mitzvah of sovereignty over our homeland for the first time in nearly 2,000 years.
Again and again Yechezkel recounts all of the miracles Hashem has performed throughout history for His people and all of the ways in which they betrayed Him.
Don't say the holiday is over and done, but that the holiday has given us something more.
If someone can overcome and surpass their natural inclinations in their interactions with their fellow man, they will have less trouble observing the mitzvot בין אדם למקום.
The Segula is Israel's inner Divine light planted within the collective Hebrew soul and revealed in human history through the Jewish people.
What we learn only through the ears makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye. -Horace
Dovid HaMelech was able to perceive the precariousness of routine and habitual activity that could tarnish the awesomeness, inspiration, and majesty of a special moment.
Rabbeinu Bechaye points out there that there are a few instances in Tanach where chodesh, the month, is synonymous with the new moon at the beginning of the month.
...the only pasuk in the Torah that has the same gematria as the two words Eretz Yisroel, is the verse, Hashem Ish milchomah, Hashem Shemo – G-d is the Master of war, Hashem is His Name.
Yehoshua was one of Israel's greatest leaders because he represented the ideal expression of the Yosef force - one consciously rooted in, guided by and completely subordinate to the Hebrew mission.
If Pesach is immediately followed by Acharei Mot that focuses on Yom Kippur, there must be a good reason for it.
One is obligated to make a blessing on bad news, just as he makes a blessing on good tidings.
What interests me however is why the Midrash chose to emphasize two specific types of fruit – apples and pomegranates. It could just as easily have said grapes, figs, dates, etc. Why not choose fruit of the Shiv’at Haminim?
It is incumbent upon every parent to prepare a “lesson plan” of meaningful Torah directions to give over to their family on this most meaningful night.
It is often asked what the first step should be in order to come closer to Hashem. Should one first purify himself by abandoning his evil ways, or should he engage in acts of holiness?
Even had Egypt’s dominance on the world stage declined later in history due to natural circumstances, the Pharaonic worldview would have continued to dominate the thinking of man.
One of the major messages of the Lubavitcher Rebbe was to utilize every situation in which we find ourselves for good.
This is the true meaning of Pesach – to restore the unique relationship between ourselves and our Creator, as individuals and as a collective.
Let us begin with the facts. We were poor slaves in Egypt – fact! We ate matzos when we left Egypt – fact! We eat matzos to remind us of our poverty of slavery in Egypt – fact????
Indeed, the very name for Heaven, shamayim, is a composition of aish and mayim, fire and water, which though usually in opposition are fused together peacefully in the Heavens.
Don't be humble, you're not that great. -Golda Meir
While it is unfortunate that even observant Diaspora Jews can be corrupted by the moral values of their host countries, the greater tragedy is that they are not living up to their full potential in life.
Why is this Shabbos different from all other Shabboses? On this Shabbos, Israel became a nation unified in our service of Hashem, as was anticipated two weeks ago on Shabbat HaChodesh.
When one buys or builds a new house, he should make a chanukas habayis. It’s an important act of thanking Hashem . . . a time of dedication when one energizes the holiness of the dwelling.
HKB”H, in most circumstances, tries to minimize the shame caused to the sinner... With lashon hara it is exactly the opposite. The entire procedure is deliberately made as visual and as public as possible.
R’ Chaim chose to sit in the middle of the shul, off to the side. Anyone could have the honor of sitting next to him, something that was the dream of a lifetime for many.
Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire. -Francois de la Rochefoucauld
The Gemara explains the discrepancy in the offerings in a beautiful way, to the effect that Israel will bring what they have available and Hashem will accept it.
Do not allow any bad thought to arise in our hearts, heaven forbid, neither when we are awake nor in a dream.
We can admire and learn from people who are able to find the extraordinary strength to see the oneg while understanding and empathizing with those who are having a hard time seeing past the negah
The mere existence of life is not sufficient. Life derives its true value and meaning as a tool to be used in the service of the Divine.
Wishing all a Happy New Year-but when?
Even more curious is the latter part of the Midrash – to prevent becoming afflicted with the nega’im, what should one do? Eat, drink and be happy! Have a continual party – that is the remedy!
On this Night of Heritage, when we have the opportunity to etch the fundamentals of our faith into our children and grandchildren’s memory banks, it behooves us to spend time in preparation for this monumental task.
His son, Rabbi Shlomo Kanievsky touched the crowd with stories of childhood games played with his father, the mastermind, and uncovered a little bit about the relationship with his deceased wife, Batsheva.
I count life just a stuff to try the soul's strength on. -Robert Browning
Israel is to participate in - and elevate - every sphere of national life in order to reveal the inner connection of all that exists to the Divine Ideal.
The rebbi felt terrible that there was a child sitting in his class who was not eating lunch…
HKB”H created most of the human body with redundancy. We have two eyes, ears, nostrils, arms, legs, hemispheres in the brain, chambers in the heart, lungs, kidneys, reproductive organs, etc., the logic being – “if one fails, we have a spare.”
Since Hashem despises the evil person as He is, so to speak, nauseated from the praise of the wicked, it is a good idea to preface our Seder with teshuvah.
Israel has dramatically returned to the world stage in what has so far been merely the introduction to a revolutionary process destined to free humankind from a global order that promotes injustice.
When our haftara was designated for a week such as this, thousands of years ago, the sages saw fit to add another couple of verses to the end, spoken by Yirmiyahu almost a thousand years before that.
The intent of the commandment to clean the ashes was to bring his thoughts down to the people on earth, for him to ‘see’ the hard-working people who were involved in everyday life.
I know very few who enjoy matzo year round. Most people can’t wait for Pesach to end, to get rid of all their leftover matzo.
How many times have any of us said to ourselves: “I felt so badly that I wanted to die.” And yet, G-d does not demand that of us. He wants us to live and do teshuvah.
On the stage of history, we have been taught that Hashem often uses the wicked to destroy the wicked. One evil nation will conquer another, only in due course to be conquered by the next to arise.
On Shabbat we finished reading the book of Exodus with its emotional description of the completion of the Mishkan, the spiritual center that accompanied us in the desert. This apparently was the first crowd-funding endeavor of our people.
Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win. -Bobby Knight (all-time great college basketball coach)
The offering of the korbanos in itself does not achieve atonement. It is when the person’s mind and heart are overcome with thoughts of teshuvah that there is atonement.
We are in the land of “What have you done for me lately?” where the standard is “What’s in it for me?”
If the sin originated with food, then its remedy and atonement must involve food. This is why Purim is so food oriented...
Alexander Kaganovsky, president of our cong. asked for silence and said: 'I want to thank all the emissaries who have stayed behind with us. For many years you have been saying that you are an inseparable part of us, but now you proved it in the moment of truth.'
When it came to the “Jewish question,” Achashverosh seemed to be completely neutral. So how could he be as bad as the man who destroyed the Temple?
It was Mordechai's pivotal decision not to bow or budge before Haman that catapulted the Jews into a situation of possible annihilation, and it was he who commanded Esther, his own wife, to risk her life to save her people.
It's important to recognize the internal development of the Hebrew tribes from the Exodus from Egypt to the Brit Sinai and consecration of the Mishkan.
One word of derision can offset a thousand words of mussar.
In our haftara, we find Shlomo HaMelech completing the construction and initiating the dedication of the First Beit HaMikdash. In Shlomo we find a unique synthesis of the attributes of Moshe and of Betzalel.
These last two years have demonstrated how vital it is to feel solidarity not only toward those who have passed away but toward those who have been sick but are not yet fully recovered, toward business owners, toward coping parents, and, in fact, toward everyone who has been affected,--which means every one of us.
Our Sages tell us that righteous men and women merit that their descendants continue in their ways.
The wickedness of men and women can live long after they are gone.
If Dan is the extreme expression of Yosef in the same way that Shimon is of Yehuda, what was the importance of appointing tribesmen of Yehuda and Dan to lead the construction of the Mishkan?
Baal and his prophets are not worth the time or the energy of the last remaining prophet to Hashem. His mission is to the people of Israel who have abandoned the service of Hashem.
If one is quiet, it indicates that the matter at hand does not concern him.
The old adage, the best present you can give to your children is more of your presence, is an extremely vital concept. So too is the famous acronym for the word “family” – “Father and Mother I Love You.”
A mistake that nearly had catastrophic results for the entire people of Israel ultimately revealed Moshe's true greatness as a national leader.
Many years ago, I took my children to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. A guide took us around and was patiently describing the history of the world, showing us fossils with great enthusiasm, and talking in detail about prehistoric times. About 15 minutes into the tour, one of my daughters, four years old […]
Avoid popularity if you would have peace. -Abraham Lincoln
Initially, we have the task of simply lighting a fire. To educate, to explain, to pay close attention and to inspire.
When the navi Yechezel is given a vision of the third Beit HaMikdash, he is commanded to teach its measurements and dimensions to the people of Israel. The people to whom he delivers this prophecy have yet to build the second Beit HaMikdash, so it's a bit incongruous to be speaking of a third.
September 11, 2026 
