Thoughts after the recent passing of Rav Mordechai Zev Yoffen (Jofen) Z"L Rosh Yeshiva of the Novardok Yeshiva in Brooklyn.
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.
We must exalt the bravery of the regular and reserve soldiers who fought for so many months. Thanks to their dedication, the people of Israel live and continue to move forward.
Snce this week marks my mother’s yahrtzeit, may her memory be a blessing, I will use my personal experience to demonstrate that bringing one’s aging parents to Israel is the very best thing a child could do for them.
In the face of wickedness, there is no room for patience.
Religious Zionist scholars find and explain connections between Torah readings and the Holy Land. This week: The Land of Israel as a "morasha."
The story of the historic rabbinic decision on the Entebbe hostages and how the IDF saved the day.
What is the difference between motzi and ha-motzi?
The miracles in Egypt demonstrate to our ancestors and to us through every generation the awesome Might of God.
Moshe is advised that he need only perform the task, and the success of the mission is totally in the hands of God, Who will cause the goal to be achieved against all odds, as it were.
"Let My People Go!" But Can They Let Themselves Go?
Why would Hashem give Moshe, as evidence for Pharaoh, something which could be reproduced by others and thus undermine its claim to be supernatural?
What exactly were Egypt's magicians up to?
Two staffs, two personalities, and only one of them who understood that annihilating our enemies is the way to bring peace into the world and was thus suitable to bring the plagues on Egypt.
The Egyptians acted as a snake, in their cruelty adding affliction and suffering, way beyond what had been decree.
The setbacks we face are temporary. All steps backwards are transitory and passing. Advances sometimes come in hidden stages- Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook zts"l.
There are serious reasons to suspect that the Egyptians are preparing for war, although they are not seriously threatened by any enemy. This is a sign of the pre-Mashiach period.
Looking at the case of Moshe.
When faith is firm, life intensifies with strength, and even the greatest suffering does not diminish life, but strengthens it. The material power of Egypt was absorbed by us as a force that enabled increased reproduction.
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.
Torah study exposes us to Hashem through His thought process, making us meaningfully familiar with Him.
The essence of Gerut is Kabbalat Ha-Mitzvot – acceptance of the Torah and its commandments – for this is what it means to be a Jew.
Religious Zionist scholars find and explain connections between Torah readings and the Holy Land. This week: Milk and honey, tsaddikim, 'gomeh'.
To experience bliss even within our challenges.
“What is he screaming about?” they would ask hearing Moses call out “Let My people go!”
God gave Moses a sign to prove his authenticity — but a sign which implied displeasure in Moses’ lack of faith in his people.
A lesson from Moshe's lapse.
Moses took the role of leader and Aaron, the high priest. Each had their own role; neither was envious of the other. But by working together, they changed the world. Modern Jews also need to change the world because the outside is getting nasty.
None of us has the power to prevent this deal from happening. Not even the few Cabinet Ministers who ideologically oppose it can prevent it. So ar we guilty of it?
The song Od Yoter Tov caused a surge of optimism in Israel, lyrics written by Breslov Rabbis and sung by popular Israeli singers.
The Pnei Menachem writes: Similar to the destruction of Amalek, which occurs after they damage the kingdom of God in the world, so too the Egyptians were punished. What does he mean by that?
The Neshamot of the Shevatim accompanied and shielded their descendants during the teeth of the Egyptian exile.
Rather than celebrate Shabbat in the way G-d made exclusive to Jews, the Christians bumped their Sabbath to Sunday and the Muslims pulled their Shabbat back to Friday.
Names truly reflect the forces with which the creation, so named, was created.
Saving one life can be as impactful as saving an entire nation.
Moshe didn't draw attention to himself, even as an infant.
While we see ourselves as a nation, (Bnei Yisrael), we began as a family, Bnei Yaakov. Let us act like one!
The whole picture is that our security and spiritual situation has improved dramatically from a year and a half ago. Opinion.
The power of blessings is greater than the power of curses and a parent’s blessing for their child has a particularly strong impact. The Torah prohibits cursing someone, wishing for their death, illness, or other misfortune.
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.
I am deeply moved and with great pleasure present to you a pre-war song of the Gerer Hasidim, sung as they travelled to the Rebbe for holidays, performed by me.
As we read about the burning bush in this coming Shabbat's Torah reading, perhaps we should look for a message in the tragic devastation in Los Angeles.
The transformative power of holding space for the pain of another.
The midrash teaches that the enemies of Israel have to be defeated by Israel (or one of Israel), and not by an outsider – even if that outsider happens to be an ally. That is the deep meaning of the name Israel.
What kind of blessing is it when Yaakov prays that his grandchildren increase like fish in the land?
On account of their merits and the merit of their actions, we have the strength to stand against those who seek to harm us in our own day, and go on to fulfill our destiny despite the heavy price we are forced to pay.
As the fast approaches, we must remember that there are burning issues that require communal attention and our individual dedication.
Asarah B’Tevet was the original cause—the first event that, had a domino effect, setting many other tragic events in motion. (See selected Halakhot for this year's fast, that falls on a Friday, at end)
Yosef targeted his brothers' feelings by appealing to their minds.
Like the majority of Jews in Mitzrayim, that 80% that would not leave, if they don’t come home to Israel they will be lost.
On the surface, battle are won with weapons and battle tactics. Beneath the surface, they are won because our minds and tongues were preoccupied with prayer.
Those engaged in commerce, must sustain those engaged in Torah, and, further, they themselves are thereby deemed to be engaged in Torah toil!
We specifically bless our children to be like Ephraim and Menashe and we bless them with the words of Hamalach Hagoel Oti, that they too be like fish.
One red rose, vibrant in her hopefulness. A reminder in this year of hope, of grace, of life’s beauty. A year in which we were shocked to discover, that mankind has not changed since the Holocaust.
Regrowth can be harder than growth because it involves a level of self-knowledge and the discipline to set the right conditions.
Torah wisdom is NOT the product of any contemporary reality, but the source of its power of renewal. A Hanukkah postscript.
The festive completion of a Talmud Tractate intermingles with the mourning for a future son-in-law murdered in a terror attack and the pledge to continue to build this country as he would have wished.
Bittersweet Exile - A reflection on Galut and the call of Eretz Yisrael.
It is forbidden to believe in traditions that lack logic, and to act upon them. Jews are commanded to focus their faith on the Torah and commandments, which uplift a person and guide them to be good and just.
