Danny Ginsbourg

See my son!

Whilst to the brothers, Yosef’s dreams were like thorns in their eyes, to Reuben they were like sweet honey - and he wanted to save Yosef.

VAYISHLACH 5782

Fear of spiritual harm

Why didn't Jacob try to avoid meeting his brother?

TOLDOT 5782

Could Esau really have sold his birthright to Jacob?

Did Jacob take advantage of his brother's hunger to get hold of the birthright?

CHAYEI SARAH 5782

The final test

Why should Abraham purchase the burial cave for Sarah if G-d has already promised the land to him?

VAYERA 5782

'And Hashem remembered Avraham' - and saved Lot?

Lot chose to live in Sodom, the by-word for wickedness, and the antithesis of all that Avraham had taught him. So why save him?

The hidden conflict behind the Battle of the Kings

Why would a battle between ancient kingdoms get such prominence in the parasha? Was it all that it seems?

Simchat Torah: The rejoicing OF the Torah

Who rejoices on the approaching holiday, the Jewish people or the Torah? Grammatically, it is the Torah. What makes the Torah rejoice, then?

Sukkot: The powerful festival of two in-gatherings

‘Every native in Israel shall dwell in Sukkot’(Emor 23;42), teaches that ‘all of Israel are deserving to sit in one Succah.’

The concealed holiday

In Rosh Hashanah, our Sages say, our main Mitzvah is: תמליכוני עליכם: Crown Me,  Hashem, over you’.Why should G-d want man to crown Him?

The Covenant with those who are not here with us today

In Nitzavim, the Covenant with Hashem is described as binding future generations. How could those present bind those who are not present?

The forty year-long Ulpan

During their forty years of desert wandering, the most crucial lessons of Israel's essence were tested and learned.

The ultimate Le'chayim

No matter how far a person has fallen in his observance of Torah and Mitzvot, there is always a way back- a life-line.

The Israelites' iron dome

The Torah wants us to deduce something from the use of the word "regalim" instead of "peamim." The commentaries enlighten us.

The mitzva the nations mocked

The Red Heifer's meaning is not known, ’It is a decree from Hashem, and we do not question it.’ So how does it atone for the golden calf?

You, Moshe and Aaron, killed Hashem's people!

Were Moshe and Aaron guilty of the deaths of the 250 followers of Korach because they set a too difficult test for them?

Beha'alotcha: The lights of the Menorah still burn brightly

How does the Oral Law connect the tribal leaders' offering, the Menorah - and Hannukah?

The utter futility of speaking slanderously - lashon hara

One who slanders is implying that he is better than the slandered person - but worth is not based only on how others judge someone.

The Pesach Seder: The Rosh Hashannah of Faith

The special time the Torah established, when the matzah and maror are before us, is a special time to pass on Emunah from father to son.

The second Tablets of the Law

Hashem made the first tablets, and Moshe the second. Why do the Sages consider the second tablets more esteemed than the first?

The sanctuary built by the generous heart

The Israelites showed they were prepared to receive at Mount Sinai, but G-d wanted to know if they were also prepared to give.

Moses left Pharaoh's palace - and grew into greatness

Rav Ahron  Kotler says:’He ‘felt’ their suffering, as if it was his own."

Vayigash: Judah's justified 'ingratitude'

Judah spoke harshly to Joseph. Why didn't he thank Joseph for his act of mercy, in reducing the sentence he had pronounced?

Which is harder, the test of poverty or the test of wealth?

Jacob was faced with two diametrically opposed tests. He passed them both.

A paean of praise to our Matriachs, Sarah and Rivkah.

This Torah portion tells us that Abraham was blessed "with everything" and some commentators say that means having a daughter.

How could Abraham pray for the wicked people of Sodom?

Rabbi Dessler: If they were allowed to remain alive, they would surely continue to transgress.

Sukkah - the mitzva that does not make you 'empty pocketed'

The Gemara says that G-d tested the non-Jews with the mitzva of Sukkah, easy to keep because it does not involve monetary loss, And?

The wondrous two he-goats

Is atonement for sins between man and Hashem dependent on his having appeased his fellow man, for any sins against him?

'Remember us for life, O King who desires life!'

Since we are asking for the gift of ‘life’, our first obligation is that the ‘life’ we are asking for, should be the one Hashem ‘wants’

Ki Tavo: Bikkurim, the offering of our hands

The Torah stresses ‘the hands’ in the mitzva of Bikkurim, for a symbolic, moral and historic reason.

Why can't an Ammonite or Moabite be allowed to enter Am Yisrael for eternity?

Just how basic is 'hakarat hatov,' refraining from being an ingrate, in Judaism - and why?

The myth of the self-made man

It is in the nature of man, to think that by his strength and acumen, he has prospered - but that is hubris.

"Separating challah" - the women's mitzva that atones for the sin of the spies

Our Sages see this mitzva as a pre-condition’ to entering the Land,a contra to the spies who should have kissed its stones and thanked G-d.

To receive the Torah, be like a desert!

Mount Sinai was a humble mountain in a desolate desert. What does G-d's giving the Torah there try to tell us?