Something we do every day is eat. And just like all the other things we do daily, we easily forget how special it can be. Eating is perhaps one of the holiest things we can do. Rav Tzvi Hirsch of Ziditchov once said, “When I was young, I prayed to be able to reach the […]
The roman governor Turnus Rufus constantly debated with Rabbi Akiva, one exchange is told in Bava Basra (10a); he asked Rabbi Akiva, “If your God loves poor people why did he make them poor?” Rabbi Akiva replied, “So that others have the opportunity to give charity and fix our own mistakes through this deed.” Turnus […]
Marriage is such a Holy thing, but first you must find your soul mate. The Gemara in Sotah (2a) tells us that, “Finding your soul mate is as difficult as splitting the Yam Suf”, it’s odd that finding a wife is compared to splitting the sea since marriage is all about the importance of unity. […]
We most often hear a person “bench Gomel” when they return from an overseas trip, but according to the Gemara (Brachos 54b) we don’t only bench Gomel when we survive an international flight in coach, a person is obligated to bench Gomel if they were gravely ill and were healed, imprisoned and freed, or survived […]
Parhsas Bechukosai starts off with the pasuk, “Im Bechukosai Tailechu – If you follow My laws, guard My commandments and observe them.”(26:3) Rashi explains that this means to toil in Torah. The dictionary definition of Toil is; “long strenuous fatiguing labor”. Ah, so our reward for such intense devotion for Torah must be more time […]
It is well know that a Kohen is not allowed to enter a cemetery so that he does not become impure. This is clearly brought down right in the first pasuk of this week’s Parsha; “Let no Kohen become impure by a dead person…”(21:1) There are a few exceptions to this rule though – his […]
There are many different mitzvos and rituals discussed in our parsha this week, from instructions for the Holiest day of the year to the commandment to have accurate scales and measures in business, Acharei Mos Kedoshim has a little bit of everything. One peculiar Halacha though strikes an unexpected balance between the holy and the […]
The majority of Jewish men go to the Mikvah before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, many like to go before every Shabbos and Yom Tov as well, and some more exacting people will go before they perform a Mitzvah. A Mohel may go before he performs a Bris or a Sofer may go before he […]
A couple of years ago there was a psychological study conducted on 107 stock traders in London. All 107 were separated into their own rooms. Placed before them, a screen with a stock market ticker and three buttons, two of the three buttons were labeled, “up”, “down”, and one unlabeled. They were told that these […]
We know God is One, when Klal Yisrael made and worshipped the Eigel they had this idea that there was more than one. That this golden calf is able to affect the world. It is this distortion of Gods oneness that created such a great divide in Klal Yisrael following the Eigel. Connecting to God […]
