Animosity is often better than indifference.
Torah Mitzion for Shabbat Zachor and Purim.
October 7th demonstrates the cause of Jew-hatred.
In our generation, when there is no known Amalek, we must uphold the root of the mitzvah, which is to eradicate evil and wage uncompromising war, even when our merciful nature seeks peace
One of the most startling and heartwarming outcomes of this war has been the assembly of the Jewish people in battle and in support of one another.
Refusing to kill Amalek, keeping Amalek alive, isn’t a surfeit of compassion. It’s the opposite: it is a perversion of compassion. Exterminating evil is the truest compassion.
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 Rabbi tells Islamic scholars: "According to Judaism, the faith of Islam is not fundamentally excluded."
'Esther's Wisdom' - A collection of essays for Purim by the Matan Kitvuni Fellows, women scholars and educators.
The call for active participation in tefillah and fasting on the Fast of Esther (March 21) on behalf of the many acute needs of our people has come from across the spectrum, including rabbinic leaders, the Hostages Forum, and the President of Israel.
As a Jew myself, I have some questions for you, Charles Schumer and Jonathan Glazer.
The Prophet Amos describes the punishment of Gaza for its sins. May we be privileged to see the fire that devours Gaza.
As a youth in Argentina, my father-in-law Reb Tuvia Katz z”l stood out because of his leadership qualities. Upon immigrating to Israel, he drew dozens of young people in his wake.
Rabbi Kook sought to explain how an enlightened, industrialized, and cultured Europe could unleash such destructive barbaric forces that brought the world to a cataclysmic and death-filled war. Nothing has changed.
Part 4: Shabbos as the source of all holiness.
Young Religious Zionist Torah scholars connect the parasha to Eretz Yisrael.
Gur Aryeh [a supercommentary on Rashi written circa. 1550] asks the obvious–the Torah has just spent hundreds of Pesukim describing the building of the Mishkan, and all that went in to it, and finally, at the culmination of the process, when the last details and accountings are being presented to the Jews–the Torah chooses to allude to the eventual destruction of it all.
The whole process of building the tabernacle is only a stage in reaching the real thing, building the Temple.
As we conclude the book of Shemot and the construction of the Mishkan, Hashem instructs Moshe to set it up. A notable emphasis is placed on the verb "setting up" (קום) in the Torah.
The day Moses became a bookkeeper.
Where do these people come from? From a great perception of Torah, which we call "the Torah of the Land of Israel" in the way of Rabbi Kook.
The book of Shemot ends on a triumphant note.
At the end of the Book of Shmot, Moshe cannot enter the Tent of Assembly and the shechina has not yet spoken with him!
The best of all choices is to thank Hashem for returning us to Eretz Yisrael, a holy home that we can love and defend in all circumstances.
An in depth study of the ancient works of of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
Why couldn’t the Jews erect the Mishkan at night?
We cried over the fact that Yehonatan was not there but also celebrated Aviyah and his family’s resolve to continue raising their children with the timeless traditions of the Jewish people.
What would he say about the abysmal lack of knowledge about Judaism of so many Jews?
With all respect to you, Joe Biden, who are you to tell us not to route out evil? With all respect to you, Netanyahu, who do you fear more, Biden or God?
Esther teaches us that when the nation faces an existential threat, the rules of pikuach nefesh change. Megillat Esther helps us understand how Jewish law views the sacrifice of our soldiers.
Rabbi Yitschak Yossef's statements must be understood in the context of how the issue of haredi draft is being used for politial ends. In truth, for the IDF, the enlistment of ten-thousand Haredim would be more of a headache than a salvation.
In human behavior and thought, time is as important as wealth or location or the accomplishment of any human deeds.
Whatever skill we might have, we must ask ourselves, how we can use it for G-d?
Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The structure of the Tabernacle corresponded to the entire universe.
After thousands of years of no homeland, no Beit Hamikdash, exile and persecution, our National Identity in the metaphysical sense has been the mitzvah of Shabbat – it warms the heart and soul of the Jewish people like no other.
A tribute to my dear student Nadiv.
Why does Moshe introduce Bezalel by saying, 'Look?' Where was Bezalel summoned, and what meaning does his summoning have for us today?
Subtle shifts in the order of commandments let us glean a profound lesson.
The whole of Hashem’s wish in the offerings of the Mishkan was as an atonement for the sin of the calf, to thereby again cleave to Hashem. Careful reading shows that.
From the entrance to Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel, a message for Shabbat Shalom.
Jews the world over, estranged for decades if not generations, have been forced to return to the Jewish body, to recognise that their destiny is Jewish destiny.
Gather together and come home voluntarily before it becomes impossible.
G-d wants us to sanctify the physical, not shun it.
Part 3: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Founders and Pillars of the Jewish People.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.
We rarely experience evident miracles; we need to realize that though His Hand is not visible, Hashem directs behind the scenes.
Heaven forbid that every yeshiva student go into the army! And Heaven forbid that none of them go!
Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Moses, it turns out, was fabulously wealthy. Why is that significant?
Ultimately, the spirit of sacrifice for Am Yisrael that Moshe represented was baked into the national identity of the Nation of Israel.
In the final passages of the Parsha, Moshe descends from Mount Sinai carrying the new Luchot. However, his return is marked by a striking physical transformation.
"The world breaks everyone, and afterwards some are stronger in the broken places.” -- Ernest Hemingway
if all this was the work of the non-Jewish erev rav, why were Bnei Israel so severely punished?
Our sages taught that when we repent properly, even deliberate sins are turned into merits.
This Parashah represents a climax - Am Yisrael was extracted from Egypt, Moshe is about to conclude receiving the Torah, and then comes the crash - Bnei Yisrael slide back to idol worship. What went wrong?
The chances of a national state of Indians in the heartland of America are more probable than a “Palestinian” state bordering on Israel. Never!
Hashem creates us together with ourselves. He begins the process; we complete it.
Interview with Rav Dr. Ido Rechnitz, co author of Jewish Military Ethics. A Rabbinic perspective on our painful, national moral dilemma of ‘freeing hostages versus a winning a military offensive.
The Torah enables us to rise above the natural order.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.
