Danny Ginsbourg

News by Danny Ginsbourg

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?

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

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

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

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

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 utter futility of speaking slanderously - lashon hara

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 Pesach Seder:  The Rosh Hashannah of Faith

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 second Tablets of the Law

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.

The sanctuary built by the generous heart

Moses left Pharaoh's palace - and grew into greatness

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

Moses left Pharaoh's palace - and grew into greatness

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?

Vayigash: Judah's justified 'ingratitude'

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

How could Abraham pray for the wicked people of Sodom?

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?

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

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?

The wondrous two he-goats

'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’

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

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.

Ki Tavo: Bikkurim, the offering of our hands

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?

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

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.

The myth of the self-made man

"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.

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

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?

To receive the Torah, be like a desert!