יום רביעי, כ״ד חשוון תשפ״זWednesday, November 4, 2026
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Is the way we celebrate Purim the ideal way to spiritually experience it?
The Maharsha explains that each mitzvah in the Torah has two angels appointed over it, one good and one bad.
There was once a scalding hot bath that no one could enter. Along came one foolish individual who jumped in. Although he was immediately burned, he cooled off the bath for others.
The questions about appropriate clothing should not begin with the externals, thecostumes, but with our inner lives, our growth, aspirations, beliefs; what do we see when we look at our souls?
One can claim with regard to specific halakhic issues that a tradition is binding even though it is not intellectually or spiritually compelling.
So long as we are alive, we have the ability to strive for higher and greater levels.
Clearly, creating the menorah was beyond human capacity. Why did Moshe need to have a clear image of what it was to look like?
We can achieve if we only reconnect to that belief that we can succeed only when we reach beyond ourselves rather than hide behind walls of fear-- and hesitation.
Seven is possibly the most significant number in Jewish Thought.
The Torah (22:27) prohibits people from cursing a leader. Rav Levine argues that people don't just point out the obvious and evident flaws of leaders; they tend to exaggerate them.
Hashem is more concerned for my good than I am. Hashem looks out for my interests more than I do myself.
Each prayer, each Shabbat, each festival, each mitzvah, is an opportunity to reconnect to that very different wedding at Sinai
The path from moral principle to moral policy is rarely straightforward. But the path from lack of moral principle to immoral policy often is straightforward.
May we each brighten the world in our own way and may we merit having and seeing children whose light will both burn brightly as well as kindle the light of others. Shabbat Shalom
Hashem created those sacs so that there would be another dimension to our enjoyment. The sensation of eating an orange would be different without this feature.
The art--and history--of Jewish communication.
So why sing it? If the second shirah does not add any new ideas or even words, what was its purpose?
The difficulty with this Rashi is that he lists all three reasons in same breath as if they are equal, and clearly they aren’t.
After Israel sings a song of thanksgiving, curiously, Miriam then leads the women of the nation in a second song. Why?
The religious state of nature does not enable the building of a religious society. Since human beings are social creatures, it follows that the state of nature does not enable human fulfillment. We therefore need a religious social contract. Cue Sinai; enter, the Torah.
They knew that if they performed acts of kindness with each other G-d would perform kindness with them.
We must struggle to understand, says the Rambam, the greatness and wisdom in the words of Chazal.
Even if the Egyptians prided themselves on ingenuity and advancements, they had to know they were most likely wrong when it came to accurately knowing when midnight was.
What growth can we achieve through the mitzvah of lighting special candles for Shabbos? What lesson does Hashem want us to learn from this mitzvah?
Pharaoh's stubbornness dooms Egypt. Had he let the Jews go at the first request, Egypt would have been spared from all the pain, death and destruction--the blame is his, neither Israel's nor G-d's
Understanding time, tefillin, and Torah and how they inexorably lead to: Empowerment
How did the Jews find grace in the eyes of the Egyptians, receiving gifts from their Egyptian neighbors as they left, when they were perceived as the source of all the plagues and destruction?
The Civil War was a conventional war with large massed armies arrayed against each other in set battles. These battles were more or less governed by accepted rules of war.
This story is compelling because Ford didn’t care about anyone but himself. He didn’t choose to be kind.
How seriously should we take frogs as halakhic authorities? On one level the answer is clear: not at all. Frogs do not have free will, or moral responsibility, and anyone one who thinks this midrash believes otherwise defames Chazal. Froggish martyrdom cannot teach us proper Jewish behavior, any more than froggish diet can teach us that insects are kosher.
A therapist will show the child a picture of a person’s face and then help her identify the emotion that person was most likely feeling.
A devar torah you can 'count on.' Shabbat Shalom from the Foundation Stone
In our day of media over-reporting, we often think that we should know everything about our leaders. Perhaps it is better to know too little than too much. For when it comes to ethics, the Torah spares no one in reporting what falls short of the mark.
Each one of us has his own role and path - so there is no reason to be jealous of another person.
For the next twenty years Yaakov was an unwelcome intruder in a culture alien to his nature, eating at the very table of a father-in-law who attempted in any way possible to swindle and cheat him.
There is a ubiquitous custom amongst the Jewish People to dress up in our finest outfits on Shabbos. This mitzvah is so special to the Jewish People that most Torah-observant Jews divide their wardrobe into two parts – Shabbos clothing and weekday clothing
His predecessor had heard from many dignitaries urging Shalom Morchechai’s release but did not act.
The second gathering will be that of the ten tribes during the final redemption, bringing together all the tribes of Israel after millennia of separation, something that we see unfolding before our very eyes.
The depths of Torah SheBiksav are grasped through Torah SheBaal Peh. Hashem commands Yechezkel to unite these two making them into one.
This Midrash is very difficult to understand. Every word Yaakov said was true. He did live a very difficult life. He was beset with troubles and distress. He suffered for decades.
There is no better way to inflame a situation than by answering anger with anger; and there is no better way to forestall a fight than to answer anger with calm.
If Ya’akov’s words to Pharaoh were just an exercise in self-mortification about what was too late to change, there would be little to learn from them. But if, as is more likely, they represented part of a strategy of how to continue improving, there is actually a great deal we can learn from them.
You cannot decide whether we should fight or not. We will... That decision is taken...
The Bach seems to be saying that all that was to befall the Jewish people was because we no longer approached the Avodah with the appropriate sense of purpose, and therefore it was taken from us.
Like Yosef, the Chashmonaim were dreamers. Chanukah is the story of dreamers: defeating a mighty army, recapturing and rededicating the Temple, finding a single jar of ritually pure oil in the rubble
This new perspective helps us understand Joseph.
Imagine that the book of your life has already been written – and that you’ve read the chapter headings. How would your life be different? This issue is addressed by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series. Not surprisingly, Rowling was preceded by the Torah
If Yosef was so brilliant, how is it possible he overlooked something as elementary as thinking about what his conduct would lead to?
There are many who celebrate the wise, the heroes, and the mystics, and they forget that we must also celebrate the typically non-celebrated, the people who keep the spirit alive, the very spirit that nurtures the more celebrated.
Yosef’s struggle with his brothers was ideological, whether we are to influence the world by example from the private and safe existence of our tent (the brothers), or whether take more risks by going outside and being heavily involved with the rest of civilization (Yosef)
While his only motivation may have been to earn a living for himself, he is providing a substantial gain to those he does business with. In this scenario, $850,000 of his efforts are going to vendors, suppliers, and employees. An
In the very beginning of his introduction, the author writes that it is crucial for a person to trust in Hashem because if he doesn’t, then Hashem will remove His direct and special providential care.
The Torah tells stories of people who heard the voice of God and risked it all, However, for those of us who have not heard the voice of God, our sages suggest a more nuanced approach to risk.
Esau handled the meeting with Jacob far more grace than most people manage an argument with a spouse. Not bad behavior for a person we are taught is one of the most evil biblical characters!
Human interpretation of G-d’s work is always reaching beyond ourselves, and we should be suspicious of any theory that successfully explains everything in Torah – more likely we are imposing our own vision on the text.
At times it almost seems as if Hashem is deliberately sabotaging our well-laid plans for serving Him. And it doesn’t make much sense.
Jacob did not have problems with 'doorways.' He experienced one emotional earthquake after another, and managed to maintain focus. No 'event boundary' issues for our hero. How did he do it?
Ya’akov did not pray for Rachel to conceive because he did not believe in "forcing God’s hand." He asks, “Am I instead of God? God knows best whether to give children or not. All I can do is ask.”
Leaders often have to make difficult decisions of critical importance.
A man is approaching. Do I smile and nod, or do I look the other way? He’s looking at me; do I turn my head to respond or do I look out at the trees?
It is unwise to see contemporary events as exact replays of Biblical history, but it is valuable to recognize that Torah and tradition offer narratives of hop--as well as gloom--about Jewish national relationships
Sarah Imeinu was a strong, emotionally stable woman. She had unshakable bitachon, having lived through many trials and travails.
A dog that barks much is never a good hunter. -Proverb
Avraham and Sarah ended up in the land of Canaan. Canaan? The most debased and decadent society! Yet, there Avraham and Sarah build their destiny and shape world history. Canaan actually held the key to Avraham and Sarah's redemption.
Yishmael’s challenge was whether to come back at all. Having been so clearly rejected, why would he want to have anything more to do with his father Avraham?
That understanding is enough to evoke terror in any man’s heart, and we can certainly understand why he didn’t move.
Religion must face the question of how its followers should behave while members of a corrupt society. How should they relate to the norms of that society, especially when those norms are embodied in law?
Who are these beings? Why do they play such important roles in the stories of Genesis? Why are the stories of the beginnings of humanity so rich with characters so unfamiliar?
There are many potential spiritual hazards. How can we survive?
Avram’s father was not impressed with the cleverness of his son. In fact, he was so unimpressed that he took him to Nimrod the king, who pronounced him an enemy of the state and attempted to execute him.
The commentators agree that Hashem is the beloved and Shabbos is the bride. But why is Shabbos called a bride? Who is she marrying? And what do we mean when we invite Hashem to greet the Shabbos bride with us?
When we are driven out of our complacency by a wrong we don't know what the perfect world will look like. We only know that we can't allow the world as it stands to continue. The need to leave home is clearer to us than our destination. Lekh Lekha.
The benefits of sacrificing-but not TOO much
In the first conversation HaShem had with him, Avraham was told to live in Israel, or in modern terms, make Aliyah.
The purpose of the mabul was to recreate a world that had been infected with man's evil. After the flood, that changed and the world was no longer affected in the same way by man's actions.
Our hishtadlus (efforts) and our bitachon (trust in Hashem) have to be balanced.
But the question of Noach and global warming can be understood as a theological rather than a factual question: Are there any circumstances under which G-d would allow the human race to be destroyed?
What possible comparison is there between this simple mitzvah of leaving a portion to the poor man and the colossal mitzvah of bringing all of the sacrifices on each holiday?
Adam's two Fermatas resonate in the two Noahs, and the notes continue to reverberate in our souls as we struggle to retain our connection to the Garden,
Rather than keeping it only to herself, Chava showed her love for her husband by sacrificing her own consumption of the fruit, allowing him to eat part of it instead.
You’ve never stared down the barrel of a gun before – at least not a real one.
This is the perfect time to practice really enjoying mitzvos.
Sukkot is a holiday that brings a unique inner peace – a peace that would seem to resemble the messianic era, a universal acceptance of God’s moral and spiritual order; an order that is best advanced by helping the Jewish people serve God and further educate mankind.
During the subsequent Days of Penitence, we prepared for the awesome and holy day of Yom Kippur, begging our Father and King to grant us a tabula rasa, so that we can begin anew.
Why would Hashem allow such a man to do teshuvah? And even more, why would Hashem change nature to save such a lowlife?
The Spartans used their mistakes as lessons for the future. Pinocchio chose to ignore the lessons and continue to do as he pleased. Who are we on Yom Kippur, Spartans or Pinocchio?
What is the difference between religion and magic? Each makes the claim that events in the physical world can flow from metaphysically effective language. Mages recite spells; sages recite prayers. So why is it that the Torah bans magic yet mandates prayer?
Additionally, the day of Shabbos intrinsically carries with it a potential for spirituality and connection to Hashem that no other day has.
God doesn’t owe us anything, not even the breath we take.
Clearly, the sin was forgiven, so why couldn’t the Jews look at Moshe’s face?
When we understand that the greatest expression of God's might is God's compassion, we open ourselves to receive the gift of Lives of Compassion. Once we have been granted Lives of Compassion; compassion for others and for ourselves we can become a society united in compassion, and wickedness will evaporate.
It seems important for the Torah’s central prophet to have been someone with whom gentiles could identify. And being buried outside of Israel may well have been part of that
In light of these approaches, we can also suggest that by walking around Moshe was able to check out the true pulse points of the nation.
There are many issues that affect the occupants of this planet. The entire globe is one multi-dimensional chess game, and Hashem, the Ultimate Grand Master, maps out the moves of the year to come.
We stand in the final moments of 5777, prepared to transition to 5778, perfect moments to offer our gift to God, honoring all we have gained over the past year, and how we intend to apply that growth in the future, using the coming year to grow in ways yet unimaginable to us.
October 30, 2026 
