יום שלישי, כ״ב תמוז תשפ״וTuesday, July 7, 2026
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The Aish Kodesh says we read this parsha every year before the giving of the first mitzvah on Parshat HaChodesh because first we must give ourselves over entirely to obedience to Hashem.
Miracles that are revealed are intended to inspire a person to change his life for the better. However, when a person becomes accustomed to miracles as such they no longer affect him. A miracle that happens often and becomes nature may cause him to err in his thinking and stray.
The Gemara in Pesachim teaches us that leaven is a symbol for the evil inclination: Just as yeast agitates the dough, so too the yeitzer hara agitates the soul of man trying to get him to sin.
Why the different types of matzah and their symbolism? Each had to be offered for a different reason.
I saw in the eyes of the mourners how Jerusalem consoles. One of the grieving fathers left the Kotel tunnels in tears and said: I connected with all of our past and all of our future and to the historic task of our family within all of this.
I have discovered that all human evil comes from this, man's being unable to sit still in a room. -Blaise Pascal
The power of Amalek is not limited to the physical destruction they seek to bring upon Israel. Amalek’s chief ambition is to destroy Israel morally and spiritually.
We sometimes cry such tears, not realizing that we have the choice to change our situation. Instead of bemoaning our bitter lot, we should get up and try to do something about it.
The great Rav Shamshon Rafael Hirsch, zt”l, zy”a, wrote in his ethical will that the only thing he asks from his righteous children is that if one of them is hurt by another sibling, they should forgive and make up, and that will bring the truest pleasure to their parents in the next world.
Forget about five-year-old kids; most adults are not overly attracted to Sefer Vayikra, with all its gore.
The time has come for us to make aliyah. I’ve already purchased a home in Israel. I did not merit for my children to be born there, but I do hope that my grandchildren will.
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.
Who were these clowns of Israel? What was their reason to mock Moshe? What exactly is it about this mocking that makes it unacceptable?
The idea that counting might lead to misfortune – that measures must be taken to avoid a plague – is unique to the Jews.
The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. -Henri-Frédéric Amiel
Just as the structure of the Mishkan was only finished when all three areas were intact, so too the perfection of man is only achieved when all three of his components are ready for the presence of the Shechina.
The Zohar in Parshas Noach reveals that the word chein is the same letters as the word Noach. This is to teach us that the best way to find favor in the eyes of people is to be an easygoing (noach) person.
And what of ourselves? Have we remembered how rare and invaluable our own time on this earth is? Have we let ourselves forget the things that really matter? Have we slipped, become less, made our accomplishments less significant?
The fiscal year in the Beit Hamikdash starts on Rosh Chodesh Nissan.
Let us hope that children from Be’eri, Sderot, and Kfar Aza can gain strength from his story. This is not only a personal story of Yisrael, the orphaned child. This is the story of the nation of Israel.
How, we are often asked, do we manage to sit idle for 24 hours on Shabbos without going stir crazy? Is it not human nature to be workaholics?
The classroom and home are not places from breaking down personalities only in order to build them up to specification. It is in these gentler spaces that seeds are planted, shoots watered, sunned, and sheltered in turn, where tall trees are eventually to be found and enjoyed.
The question is why is it considered as if the Nesi’im were indifferent? After all, if the Jewish people would only have come forth with half the money or gold that was necessary, the Nesi’im were ready to generously contribute the other half.
The Rebbe stresses that part of the nature of tzimtzum – the expression of Divine Will whereby Hashem makes it possible for some aspect of Himself to be present in every one of His creations – is that in recognizing and acknowledging the G-dliness in our material world, we give strength to these Divine aspects in the world as well as in ourselves.
We can be certain that it was not a quest for fame that motivated Esther HaMalka. One explanation of Esther’s desire for the accounts of Purim to be included in the Scriptures is that she recognized the timeless lessons of the story of Purim.
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?
The sefer Ohel Yehoshua explains that in fact Hashem had two distinct plans for building the Mishkan. The original plan preceded the sin of the Golden Calf, after which a Plan B went into effect as a result of the Am Yisrael’s sin.
So, obviously, Hashem does not have a face and all the above descriptions are simply metaphors to simplify concepts to enable our human intellect to understand, even though the true reality is beyond our comprehension.
A mistake that nearly had catastrophic results for the entire people of Israel ultimately revealed Moshe's true greatness as a national leader.
The material world is everything outside of the Mishkan, as the Mishkan is a means for us to pursue transcendence, and for those who have been properly designated to traverse all of these worlds.
Exposure to evil prevents us from an illusion of pleasant stability--and stability is the very thing that prevents the good from getting better.
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Taanis) speaks of respecting a physician before he is needed, so that when the person requires the services of a doctor, he will find one. It can be compared to honoring Hashem, the healer of all flesh, before one requires healing for his affliction.
The saintly Shaloh HaKodesh, of blessed memory, writes that you could break people down into two distinct groups. There are those who when they pray, they pray to Hashem; and when they bless, they bless Hashem. Then there are those who pray but Hashem is nowhere in their thoughts, and when they bless they are not focusing on blessing anyone.
Eight very different types of sins are atoned for by the Kohen's vestments.
The Mishkan’s construction is described at length, down to the finest detail. What, in fact, is the importance of these small details?
The incense that burned on this altar has always attracted special interest for its unusual life-giving properties
Was it not enough for Aharon to have the Jewish people on his heart? Why the shoulders too?
The bells, which have sound, allude to the voices of Torah; the pomegranates allude to speech which should be silenced, either because it is inappropriate or it is lashon hara.
I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. -Henry David Thoreau
The worst violations of Torah law, corresponding to defects in the underlying character of the perpetrator, are three crimes due to which the first Beit HaMikdash was destroyed and which Rambam famously decreed one must be martyred for rather than violate: wanton bloodshed (i.e., murder), fornication, and idolatry.
The Olas Tamid adds that we should daven to be spared from death by the sword and by wild animals. We are taught in Masechtas Derech Eretz Zuta, in the chapter of peace, that if Hashem didn’t bless the world with peace we would be ravaged by the sword and by animals.
By submerging individual identity into the collective Hebrew nation, the kohanim work to cleanse the children of Israel from all transgressions and to inspire the people with a powerful show of kedusha.
There are different opinions on how the Kohen Gadol would receive the answer to the question. According to one opinion, the letters on the stones were illuminated forming the words of the answer. According to another, the letters stood out and became extruded.
They are a reminder that everything can suddenly be turned upside down – and turn out for the best.
What can the Mishkan teach us about the ways Divine revelation is channeled into our world?
The measure of things...
There are only ever very few individuals who rise to this level, and even when all of Israel are serving Hashem faithfully and achieving our individual tasks, most people at best are just sparks of light and not enough to maintain an ongoing presence of Divine imbuement.
Why was it necessary to use specific wood from specific cedar trees? The other raw materials used in building the Mishkan were simply from the spoils that Am Yisrael took with them from Egypt – gold, silver, wool, linen, etc.
The vital Torah learning is that which the children are taught. When the Torah speaks of the wings of the Keruvim spread over the Aron it alludes to the learning of the children that covers and protects us from the nations of the world.
During their courtship and their engagement, they were ablaze with giving. This created an atmosphere of love. After the chupah however, they sadly change tracks and shift into the taking mode – and that is when the love starts to dissipate.
It is explained that when an orphan is insulted or humiliated it calls painful attention to his plight. Not only is he anguished by the torment itself, but he is further distressed that his parents are no longer in his life to prevent this from happening, and he has no one with whom to share his pain.
How should we understand the difference between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah within the context of Israel's identity and development?
An executive is a man who can make quick decisions and is sometimes right. -Elbert Hubbard
I believe that the Torah is telling us something more nuanced. I think it is telling us that God wants the people to listen to Moshe even when he is wrong!
Every nation establishes its own code of ethics. One might think that we Jews also conceived our own ethics. To disavow us of that conceited notion, our Jewish book of ethics, Maseches Avos, starts out by reminding us that our ethics come from Sinai.
According to both schools of thought, the Ramban and the Rambam, illness and disease are the result of an imbalance caused by eating and drinking the incorrect food and drink, which upsets the biochemical balance in the body and lowers the immune system.
Of the righteous it says, V’atem hadevekim ba’Hashem Elokeichem chaim kul’chem hayom – You who are attached to Hashem your G-d (by living correctly) are all alive today. Thus, v’chol hachaim yoducha selah means all those who are truly alive will thank You.
Points to ponder include appreciation of current events, recognition and Hakarat Hatov, sensitivity to others, and creative problem solving.
One example of the special evaluations that school children in Israel have received in recent days is a Certificate of Heroism.
Why were the Hebrews so surprised by the sudden realization that they would receive the Torah as a set of laws & a mission for the rest of humanity?
In this week’s Parsha Yisro says baruch Hashem asher hitzil eschem miyad Mitzrayim, blessed is Hashem who saved the Jewish people from the hands of the Egyptians. The Gemara in Sanhedrin (94a) says that Yisro was the first person to ever recite these words baruch Hashem. I would like to share with you a question […]
When we show kindness to one another and demonstrate that we can be identified with the principle of attending to the genuine needs of another, we also make ourselves worthy of Hashem’s attention to us.
Throughout history, the Jews have not had many friends Faced with a hostile world, when they came across a truly righteous gentile, it was a bit of a surprise. Rare indeed was the gentile who would be kind not only to his fellows but also to the Jew. Thus, when the Jews met a highly […]
Matan Torah on Har Sinai was the second time the Torah was given. It was the first time for Am Yisrael, but preceding this, Hashem gave the Torah to Adam HaRishon in Gan Eden – the Tree of Life, Eitz HaChayim.
What loneliness is more lonely than distrust? -George Eliot
By bringing us to Har Sinai, and imbuing us with that unique gift of being able to fulfill the mitzvos as a united entity, He empowered us with the ability to achieve the mystical perfection of tikun habriyah – rectification of creation.
Miracles are those events that are outside the realm of tevah, that which is natural. Nifla’os, on the other hand, are the wonders of natural phenomena such as the intricacies of our equilibrium controlled by the inner ear, the marvels of the human brain, our wondrous heart, and so much more.
How is it possible for G-d to command us lo tachmod, that we must not enviously covet? Do we not covet in the way that Alice cries, so that it is quite beyond us? How could Hashem raise such an unreasonable expectation and foist it upon us?
It's about unity.
Between the smashing of Egypt's military at the Sea of Reeds and the war against Amalek at Rephidim, the Hebrews had to develop a national perception of Emuna in preparation for receiving the Torah.
In fact, the Torah is filled with these sorts of fail-safes – plans to keep us from failure when failure is on the table, ways to make us less likely to fall prey to certain errors or sins.
No matter how bad things get you got to go on living, even if it kills you. -Sholom Aleichem
Leading by example must be calculatedly visible, not only from a point of view of where it is done, but even when and how it is done. Doing something privately is not an act of leadership.
As an integral part of this process, which is an integral aspect of natural law, wisdom increases both above and below in preparation for humanity to transcend its debased state.
We say in our tefillos kadsheinu b’mitzvosecha – sanctify us with Your mitzvos, for with every mitzvah that a person does he adds holiness to himself, and particularly to that limb that corresponds to the mitzvah.
The Da'as Zekeinim, Avudraham, and Kolbo reveal that the gematria of the word modim is 100, referring to the one hundred blessings where we thank Hashem every day.
What happened between the high point at the Red Sea and the low point in Refidim?
He related that when he was called up for reserve duty, he tried to think of something that would be spiritually fulfilling, and decided that whenever he’d have some spare time, he’d study Tanach with the commentary of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.
Which was painted in blood first, mezuzot (sides of the door frame), or top of the doorpost?
As we are asking Hashem to favor our prayers, we must know that after we do a mitzvah it is a special time of favor to ask Hashem for something.
What were the necessary steps for Israel to develop a national consciousness ahead of leaving Egypt?
A civilization is destroyed only when its gods are destroyed. -E. M. Cioran
Once the corruption has been removed from the Land and the exiles have been gathered, unified in the service of Hashem and freed from foreign occupation, then Yerushalayim and the other holy places can be rebuilt as they were in ancient times.
The experience of the generation that came out of Egypt shows us that the clarity we think we so much want from God would actually hurt us more than it would help us.
Hashem revealed to Chabakuk the foundation of creation that keeps a person strong in any situation. It is our primary exercise and endeavor in the service of Hashem.
Unlike the Egyptians, who couldn’t see and couldn’t move, for Am Yisrael there was light in their places of dwelling (Shemot 10:23).
Hashem doesn't operate according to human presupposition.
Moshe’s complaint to God is that even though he would have the best human understanding of the Divine will, he had difficulty bringing it down to regular people.
We should try, to the best of our human ability, to grasp the essence of Hashem and emulate it.
The ten plagues were part of a deliberate process to educate not only Egypt and Israel but also humanity.
Certainly, Hashem has the power, if He wills it, to bring about redemption in a sudden fashion, as He did in Mitzrayim. However, if after our many centuries of exile we are still not worthy of redemption in our own merit, there are natural processes at work in the universe that will bring it about inevitably.
The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. - Chinese Proverb Sun and Moon
The first two plagues should have convinced Pharaoh that these were the work of G-d, not the work of magic.
One should be galvanized and inspired to plead to the Omnipotent Hashem to be saved from any challenge in any situation. One should never despair of begging for kindness and compassion from the All Merciful.
We say, Shema koleinu Hashem Elokeinu – Listen to our voices, Hashem our G-d. The name Hashem denotes the attribute of rachamim, mercy, while the name Elokeinu is the attribute of din, strict justice.
July 3, 2026 
