Danny Ginsbourg

Parashat Emor:

Why is Shabbat listed among the holidays?

Torah commentaries weigh in on the philosophic and practical issue of the difference between Shabbat and the other festivals and why Shabbat is mentioned with them despite that.

A survey of commentaries:

'Do not do as Egypt did, nor Canaan'

Commentaries weigh in on what exactly this prohibition means.

Parashat Tazria-Metzora

Conundrum: The difference in purification time between births

‘Why are the periods of impurity - and then purity - of the mother who gives birth to a girl, double the periods where she gives birth to a male?’

Parashat Shmini:

Moses said to Aaron: Approach the altar and perform your service

Why did Aaron have to be convinced to approach the altar?

Passover:

Two faces of "the day after"

Though we had no merits - ‘no פתח no opening’ - Hashem still redeemed us.

Parashat Vayikra:

Hashem called to Moshe saying...

Not everyone merits to attain the upper part of the Torah, the concealed Torah which is in the hands of Hashem - however, every Jew is obliged to engage in the other two ‘lower’ parts of the Torah - the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, which are in alluded to as 'saying’ and ‘speaking’.

Pekudei:

Moshe could not enter the tent of meeting - why?

Commentators weigh in on why the greatest of Prophets could not enter the Tabernacle after it was put up - see the end of the Book of Exodus.

Vayakhel:

The men came with the women

‘The men needed to donate their ornaments to atone for their souls; but the women who did not want to give their ornaments for the calf did not require atonement. ‘Why, then, should the women give their ornaments?

Just one half-shekel, no more and no less?

’The wealthy shall not increase and the indigent shall not decrease’ - why?

Parashat Tetsave:

The priestly robe atones for lashon hara'a

The instrument of speech is a priceless gift to our people to serve Hashem, more so than any of our other organs. The robe was designed to remind us of that.

Terumah:

'They shall make a sanctuary for Me..for the Torah in the Ark

A collection of commentaries on our Sages' question: ’’THEY shall make an Ark’’- in plural, unlike the other utensils, which they are also commanded to make, but where the command is in the singular: ‘YOU shall make..’ - why?

'Distance yourself from a false word"

From our childhood, we indulge in a world of imagining, until that which we imagine becomes our reality....

Yitro:

'Thou shalt not covet'

Ibn Ezra comments: Many have wondered about this commandment: how can one not covet in your heart, a nice thing, which is goodly in his eyes? Read his famous answer and other commentaries' explanations of it below.

When Pharaoh sent them out

Who freed the slaves - Hashem or Pharaoh?

Parashat Bo:

'In your blood you shall live, in your blood you shall live'

Various commentators weigh in on a question on the Torah reading. Did Bnei israel in Egypt not have any Mitzvot, so that Hashem felt compelled to give them these two new Mitzvot - pesach and milah - in the merit of which they were redeemed from Egypt?

Parashat Vaera:

"The staff of Aaron swallowed their staffs"

The Egyptians acted as a snake, in their cruelty adding affliction and suffering, way beyond what had been decree.

'These are the names' - a haunting title for this week's parsha

Names truly reflect the forces with which the creation, so named, was created.

Vayechi:

The blessed partnership of Yissachar and Zevulun

Those engaged in commerce, must sustain those engaged in Torah, and, further, they themselves are thereby deemed to be engaged in Torah toil!

Vayigash:

'I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?'

Why did Joseph ask a question to which he had already been give the answer?

Pharaoh: There is no one as wise and discerning as you, Joseph

Who asked Yosef to offer his advice, in addition to proffering the solution to the dream, with which he was charged?

Yosef's two dreams

Selected commentaries explain why Joseph's brothers were angered by his dreams.

Vayishlach:

Do you have plenty?

The wicked, in their own eyes, consider themselves to be tzaddikim, and that all that is given to them is their due.

Vayetze:

Attached to the earth but reaching to the sky

What was the significance of Yaakov's dream of the ladder and angels? A selection of commentators' answers to the question.

'And Yitschak's eyes dimmed from seeing'

What is the reason God wanted Yitschak to think he was blessing Esav?

Chayei Sarah:

The death of Sarah Imenu

Why did the Torah find it necessary to testify that she remained righteous throughout her life, from beginning to end? And why did her end come after the Akeidah?

Why is it called 'the binding of Isaac'?

This episode is counted by our Sages as the final, culminating test with which Hashem tested Avraham. But then why is it named for Isaac?

The first Brit Milah

Why didn't Abraham perform the brit milah before G-d told him to?

Nitzavim-Vayelech:

The eternal witnesses

How can one compare man, with his abiiity to choose, to the heaven and earth? Commentaries weigh in on the question.

'This day you have become a people to Hashem'

There is no nation in the land, except for Bnei Israel, as all the nations, compared to it, are as nought, and do not merit being called ‘a nation’.

Ki Tetse:

Are we the "rebellious sons?"

A selection of commentaries on a difficult Torah commandment, with a surprising twist at the end.

Re'eh:

Resh, aleph, heh - acronyms, anagrams and gematriot

There are no coincidences. The word Elul and the word Re'eh contain many messages in symbolic form.

Parashat Ekev:

"Now O Israel! What does Hashem ask of you?

Reading Rabbi Lazer Gurkow's article this week informs us as to the outcome of reciting blessings. What do the commentaries add to explain the injunction to say 100 blessings each day?

Vaetchanan:

The righteous do not rely on their good deeds

Commentators weigh in on Moshe's pleas to enter the land.

Devarim:

Two different spy stories

What do our Torah Sages say about the glaring differences in the two accounts of the 12 spies? And an idea for reconciling them.

Moshe Rabbeinu's ultimate "mesirut nefesh"

Could there be a greater act of mesirut nefesh, than Moshe’s decision to depart this life, so as to not to delay the vengeance of Hashem, and of Bnei Israel?! Read how the commentaries on this week's parsha see it.

The righteous daughters

Their love for the land was palpable. Even their timing was perfect. A look at the different ways our commentators described the daughters' viewpoint.

"This is the statute of the Torah": Chukat haTorah

Questions and answers of rabbinic commentators on the idea of laws for which we have no reason.

The test

A selection of commentaries weighing in on the meaning of the almond branch blossoming staff test.

Commentators weigh in on the Sin of the Spies

Was their sin lack of faith in God, was it a provocation, was it their fear of having to fight - or a combination?

Shavuot and Torah: The 'yetser hara' conundrum

At the end of days, the nations will claim that they are entitled to be rewarded, even though they did not keep the Torah.

Why wasn't the Tribe of Levi counted with the others?

Various Torah commentaries' o;pinions on the reason the tribe of Levi had a different status.

The wonderful rewards for toiling in Torah

"What is the meaning of:’if you follow My statutes’? It means that you toil in the study of Torah..".

Shmitta - the bitachon mitzva

Commentators explain why Shmitta transgression is punished severaly and what reliance of Hashem it proposesl

Kedoshim: Be holy towards your fellow man

Keeping Mitzvot between man-and-fellow man means to look both at our fellow man and at ourselves correctly, in ways which are ‘opposite’.

Counting the days- the freedom of our time

Follow in the ways of Avraham Avinu - make sure that every day of our sefira, is truly ‘ours’ - that we have given it content, by serving Hashem.

The one to whom the house belongs

A collection of commentaries on tsaraat of a house. The Alsheich Hakadosh says: This affliction should be considered by us, as a gift from Hashem. Why?

Parshat Tazria: The supernatural affliction

Are speakers of lashon ha’ra not found amongst the nations? Why then don’t we find that they are afflicted by tzaraat?

What is: 'The thing that Hashem has commanded?'

Shmini describes the wondrous events of that first day of Nissan, the eighth day of the investiture of the Mishkan.

Tsav: The challenge of a depleted pocket

The word "tsav" is found only concerning the Korban Tamid. Why?

What did Hashem say to Moshe from the Ohel Moed?

Our Sages expound the word ‘Saying’ in the first pasuk in several ways, feeling that it is superfluous, as immediately after it - in the second pasuk - the Torah again says:’Speak to Bnei Israel, and say to them.’

Moshe could not enter the Tent of Assemby

At the end of the Book of Shmot, Moshe cannot enter the Tent of Assembly and the shechina has not yet spoken with him!

Vayakhel: The assembly of atonement

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.

What was the Sin of the Golden Calf?

if all this was the work of the non-Jewish erev rav, why were Bnei Israel so severely punished?

And you [Moshe], command the children of Israel...

Moshe’s name is not mentioned in our Parasha.

Take for Me an offering and you take Me, too!

Commentaries expound on the meaning of the verse "take for me" instead of "give to me" in this week's parasha on the building of the Tabnernacle.

Mishpatim: The intriguing issue of the Hebrew slave

What did the Torah see, to start its words on the ordinances, specifically on the subject of ‘the Jewish slave? What the commentaries have to say.

Yitro: A mussar lesson from the stones of the altar

‘We can learn from this about man, that even if he is engaged in a Mitzvah or worthwhile matter, how careful he must be not to act disrespectfully towards others.’

This is my God and I will beautify Him

"Veanvehu" -build him a sanctuary or beautify your way of doing mitzvot?

Why does the firsst mitzva sanctify the moon?

The underlying message of our reckoning by the moon, is that the moon is at times in absolute darkness, without even a sliver of light, yet even at this time, we know that it will soon return.

Vaera: Moses introduces the concept "kal vachomer"

The unspoken answer of Hashem, to Moshe’s query, as to why the affliction increased after Moshe’s first approach to Pharoah, leads to a kal vachoerm.