Danny Ginsbourg

News by Danny Ginsbourg

Parashat Naso:

The sanctity of Aaron

The Kohen loves the people and they, in turn, love him.

The sanctity of Aaron

Parashat Bamidbar:

Why was the tribe of Levi so much smaller than all the others?

Torah commentaries address the reason for the small number of levites when compared to every other tribe.

Why was the tribe of Levi so much smaller than all the others?

Parashat Behar-Bechukotai:

Shmita as a continuation of the revelation at Sinai

A person who is not subjugated to Torah - but to his possessions and his wealth - can not observe the mitzvah of shemita, whilst he still feels that he is the master of his fields.

Shmita as a continuation of the revelation at Sinai

Parashat Emor:

Why is Shabbat listed among the holidays?

Torah commentaries weigh in on the philosophic and practical issue of the difference between Shabbat and the other festivals and why Shabbat is mentioned with them despite that.

Why is Shabbat listed among the holidays?

A survey of commentaries:

'Do not do as Egypt did, nor Canaan'

Commentaries weigh in on what exactly this prohibition means.

'Do not do as Egypt did, nor Canaan'

Parashat Tazria-Metzora

Conundrum: The difference in purification time between male and female births

‘Why are the periods of impurity - and then purity - of the mother who gives birth to a girl, double the periods where she gives birth to a male?’

Conundrum: The difference in purification time between male and female births

Parashat Shmini:

Moses said to Aaron: Approach the altar and perform your service

Why did Aaron have to be convinced to approach the altar?

Moses said to Aaron: Approach the altar and perform your service

Passover:

Two faces of "the day after"

Though we had no merits - ‘no פתח no opening’ - Hashem still redeemed us.

Two faces of "the day after"

Parashat Vayikra:

Hashem called to Moshe saying...

Not everyone merits to attain the upper part of the Torah, the concealed Torah which is in the hands of Hashem - however, every Jew is obliged to engage in the other two ‘lower’ parts of the Torah - the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, which are in alluded to as 'saying’ and ‘speaking’.

Hashem called to Moshe saying...

Pekudei:

Moshe could not enter the tent of meeting - why?

Commentators weigh in on why the greatest of Prophets could not enter the Tabernacle after it was put up - see the end of the Book of Exodus.

Moshe could not enter the tent of meeting - why?

Vayakhel:

The men came with the women

‘The men needed to donate their ornaments to atone for their souls; but the women who did not want to give their ornaments for the calf did not require atonement. ‘Why, then, should the women give their ornaments?

The men came with the women

Just one half-shekel, no more and no less?

’The wealthy shall not increase and the indigent shall not decrease’ - why?

Just one half-shekel, no more and no less?

Parashat Tetsave:

The priestly robe atones for lashon hara'a

The instrument of speech is a priceless gift to our people to serve Hashem, more so than any of our other organs. The robe was designed to remind us of that.

The priestly robe atones for lashon hara'a

Terumah:

'They shall make a sanctuary for Me..for the Torah in the Ark

A collection of commentaries on our Sages' question: ’’THEY shall make an Ark’’- in plural, unlike the other utensils, which they are also commanded to make, but where the command is in the singular: ‘YOU shall make..’ - why?

'They shall make a sanctuary for Me..for the Torah in the Ark

'Distance yourself from a false word"

From our childhood, we indulge in a world of imagining, until that which we imagine becomes our reality....

'Distance yourself from a false word"

Yitro:

'Thou shalt not covet'

Ibn Ezra comments: Many have wondered about this commandment: how can one not covet in your heart, a nice thing, which is goodly in his eyes? Read his famous answer and other commentaries' explanations of it below.

'Thou shalt not covet'

When Pharaoh sent them out

Who freed the slaves - Hashem or Pharaoh?

When Pharaoh sent them out

Parashat Bo:

'In your blood you shall live, in your blood you shall live'

Various commentators weigh in on a question on the Torah reading. Did Bnei israel in Egypt not have any Mitzvot, so that Hashem felt compelled to give them these two new Mitzvot - pesach and milah - in the merit of which they were redeemed from Egypt?

'In your blood you shall live, in your blood you shall live'

Parashat Vaera:

"The staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs"

The Egyptians acted as a snake, in their cruelty adding affliction and suffering, way beyond what had been decree.

"The staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs"

'These are the names' - a haunting title for this week's parsha

Names truly reflect the forces with which the creation, so named, was created.

'These are the names' - a haunting title for this week's parsha

Vayechi:

The blessed partnership of Yissachar and Zevulun

Those engaged in commerce, must sustain those engaged in Torah, and, further, they themselves are thereby deemed to be engaged in Torah toil!

The blessed partnership of Yissachar and Zevulun

Vayigash:

'I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?'

Why did Joseph ask a question to which he had already been give the answer?

'I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?'

Pharaoh: There is no one as wise and discerning as you, Joseph

Who asked Yosef to offer his advice, in addition to proffering the solution to the dream, with which he was charged?

Pharaoh: There is no one as wise and discerning as you, Joseph

Yosef's two dreams

Selected commentaries explain why Joseph's brothers were angered by his dreams.

Yosef's two dreams

Vayishlach:

Do you have plenty?

The wicked, in their own eyes, consider themselves to be tzaddikim, and that all that is given to them is their due.

Do you have plenty?

Vayetze:

Attached to the earth but reaching to the sky

What was the significance of Yaakov's dream of the ladder and angels? A selection of commentators' answers to the question.

Attached to the earth but reaching to the sky

'And Yitschak's eyes dimmed from seeing'

What is the reason God wanted Yitschak to think he was blessing Esav?

'And Yitschak's eyes dimmed from seeing'

Chayei Sarah:

The death of Sarah Imenu

Why did the Torah find it necessary to testify that she remained righteous throughout her life, from beginning to end? And why did her end come after the Akeidah?

The death of Sarah Imenu

Why is it called 'the binding of Isaac'?

This episode is counted by our Sages as the final, culminating test with which Hashem tested Avraham. But then why is it named for Isaac?

Why is it called 'the binding of Isaac'?

The first Brit Milah

Why didn't Abraham perform the brit milah before G-d told him to?

The first Brit Milah

Nitzavim-Vayelech:

The eternal witnesses

How can one compare man, with his abiiity to choose, to the heaven and earth? Commentaries weigh in on the question.

The eternal witnesses

'This day you have become a people to Hashem'

There is no nation in the land, except for Bnei Israel, as all the nations, compared to it, are as nought, and do not merit being called ‘a nation’.

'This day you have become a people to Hashem'

Ki Tetse:

Are we the "rebellious sons?"

A selection of commentaries on a difficult Torah commandment, with a surprising twist at the end.

Are we the "rebellious sons?"

Re'eh:

Resh, aleph, heh - acronyms, anagrams and gematriot

There are no coincidences. The word Elul and the word Re'eh contain many messages in symbolic form.

Resh, aleph, heh - acronyms, anagrams and gematriot

Parashat Ekev:

"Now O Israel! What does Hashem ask of you?

Reading Rabbi Lazer Gurkow's article this week informs us as to the outcome of reciting blessings. What do the commentaries add to explain the injunction to say 100 blessings each day?

"Now  O Israel! What does Hashem ask of you?

Vaetchanan:

The righteous do not rely on their good deeds

Commentators weigh in on Moshe's pleas to enter the land.

The righteous do not rely on their good deeds

Devarim:

Two different spy stories

What do our Torah Sages say about the glaring differences in the two accounts of the 12 spies? And an idea for reconciling them.

Two different spy stories

Moshe Rabbeinu's ultimate "mesirut nefesh"

Could there be a greater act of mesirut nefesh, than Moshe’s decision to depart this life, so as to not to delay the vengeance of Hashem, and of Bnei Israel?! Read how the commentaries on this week's parsha see it.

Moshe Rabbeinu's ultimate "mesirut nefesh"

The righteous daughters

Their love for the land was palpable. Even their timing was perfect. A look at the different ways our commentators described the daughters' viewpoint.

The righteous daughters

"This is the statute of the Torah": Chukat haTorah

Questions and answers of rabbinic commentators on the idea of laws for which we have no reason.

"This is the statute of the Torah": Chukat haTorah