When we immerse ourselves in water, we are forced to recognize our existential estrangement from the physical universe.
Better an ugly truth than a beautiful lie.
Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars study connections between the weekly Torah portion and the holy land.
Parashat Shmini opens on the eighth day, the 1st of Nissan.
“Chazer Treif” is a Yiddish expression that describes something which is absolutely and completely non-kosher. The use of this description goes well beyond the kitchen...
Despite the tragedy in the parasha and a similar one in the haftarah, the joyous celebrations at the time continued. How could they find the inner strength?
Judaism calls on us to serve G-d, not our own whims.
We yearn for the day - just as David did – when God will grant us respite from our enemies. But now, when we are fighting for our nation's life, may a Cohen who is a combat soldier in the IDF bless the congregation?
Why did Aaron have to be convinced to approach the altar?
Our sages wondered why the Exodus is mentioned specifically in response to avoiding insects.
We can suggest that the foundation of the entire Torah rests on the declaration of pure and simple faith that we proclaim twice a day—“Shema Yisrael, Ad-onai Elo-henu Ad-onai Echad”, which, when done properly, empowers the Jewish people to defeat the machinations of the Yetzer Hara.
The story of Moroccan Jews on Victory Day over Nazi Germany, as described by Rabbi Yosef Mashash, zt"l, is a testament to the way in which world history unfolded in Jewish neighborhoods in North Africa. We must pass on this legacy - not only as another chapter of Holocaust history, but as a foundation for a broader Jewish identity.
Those who fought and those who went to their deaths with heads held high. All are holy.
Remembering the tragedies of the past, while extremely significant, provides no protection against their being repeated.
Just as there were crises on the eighth day when the Mishkan was erected, so too in our times, when we have been privileged to establish our national home, there are national and personal crises.
Somehow, children relate best to personal examples. The father’s truth is passed on to his child, and the child feels as though, in some way, this was also his own personal experience.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
The revealed side of the Torah is the foundation for this deeper learning, but the revealed side is not the Torah’s end.
So much has changed, yet so much of it seems so familiar... The crisis demonstrated that despite progress toward emancipation in Western Europe, ancient prejudices remained potent.
At the end of a long and wonderfully fulfilling festival, we don’t just want to put it behind us. The Miouna keeps the festival spirit alive, but we have to keep it in our hearts as well.
Rabbi Charlap: “If I had to name the worst disaster that could befall me it would be to leave the Land of Israel for Chutz L’Aretz."
And what does it teach us about faith?
We are ready for a new-old consciousness.
Over 200,000 pounds of Matzah and combat-friendly “Seder kits” - and that's for starters.
The saga of renewed Jewish life in Chevron, led by the intrepid American olah, Miriam Levinger.
But aren't we already there? Are we being ungrateful?
After the cleaning, shopping and the Seder, we have ahead of us - the Intermediate Days, the last day of Pesach, Counting the Omer - and if you haven't yet, the blessing on trees. Moadim Lesimcha!
The story of the Exodus says that God fights his people's oppressors at the Red Sea. Now, it is our turn to fight for freedom.
“We are confronted with a singular phenomenon. The Almighty has paved the way for the return to Zion through people who have cast off the yoke of Torah and mitzvot. Can we possibly deny that their accomplishments in rebuilding the land," - Rav Soloveitchik zts"l.
‘We didn’t know you people have such unbreakable spirit and resolve,’ the KGB commander said.
Why Clear Out Chametz?
The Rational Child, the Depressed Child, the Selfish Child, and the Apathetic Child. G-d believes in the youth. You must too!
Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars find connections between the week's Torah portion and Eretz Yisrael.
Rabbi Kook teaches that we are called upon to remove the “chametz” of foreign cultures and foreign idolatries from our hearts and be free of their influence.
MY FOREVER RELEVANT PESACH TALE.
Judaism flourishes in light, not darkness.
The essence of Pesach is the aspect of renewal, novelty- see how Rashi carries the theme through the intricacies of halakhah.
The Todah (the last offering we will read about before Pesach) in Parashat Tsav and the Korban Pesach both convey the same ideology. When G-d sends His salvation, we are obligated to celebrate it. There were also visible and societal connections between the two offerings.
On Pesach night, we were chosen, and history was never the same.
One can see that a change has taken place in Israeli society since the start of the current war. Vast numbers are returning to tradition, returning to the synagogue, returning to the Sabbath and to the weekly portion, returning to the sources, returning to themselves.
The daily lifting of the ash, which was performed by the Kohen as part of the Temple service, did not serve the practical purpose of keeping the Altar clean. What then was the objective of this Mitzvah?
There are two explanations that we can offer our children at the Seder for our celebration.
D’var Torah ahead of Pesach.
The Zohar refers to matzah, the quintessential food of Pesach, as the bread of faith. Nissan, and specifically Pesach, thus becomes a crucial time to explore and cultivate this active art of emunah.
The miracle of the angel of death passing over the Jewish houses teaches us a momentous lesson.
Let us recognize that we are children of royalty, a nation whose eternal destiny is freedom, that Israel is neither a servant nor a home-born slave, nor an object of contempt.
Though we had no merits - ‘no פתח no opening’ - Hashem still redeemed us.
A different way of looking at the four sons in the context of recent hisory - with a twist in discussing the third one.
Reflections on the profundity of the first night of Passover,
Only one letter separates chametz from matza. What does this signify?
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
With the Jewish reoccupation of our homeland forbidden, we needed a ceremony and a text to commemorate Pesach, but how could we get it past the Roman censors?
Why can’t we have a speedy redemption like the one from Mitzrayim?
The Sages of the Great Sanhedrin were the leading Rabbis of the time, yet the Torah defines a situation where even they can make an error of judgment.
We do not have that inevitability of simply blossoming into beauty. Our destiny is not inevitably stamped into our flowering. We have the freedom, the responsibility, to choose.
When the 14th of Nisan falls on Shabbat, the chametz is checked with a blessing on the night of the 13th of Nisan. On Friday, the chametz is burned. More below.
The offerings of the Jewish people aspire to a far greater objective that of Noah who also brought offerings to Hashem.
Why is it appropriate that we begin reading this Book on the Shabbat of the month of redemption (whether Nissan or Adar)?
Where would we and humanity be without the spirit awakened in the Exodus? What can your future look like with it?
