'Distance yourself from a false word"
From our childhood, we indulge in a world of imagining, until that which we imagine becomes our reality....
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Parshat Shavua
News and updates about Parshat Shavua
Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi: Yitro
Breaking bread with scholars
A scholar’s greatest influence takes place in those spheres where others can best relate to him.
Office of the UK Chief Rabbi: Yitro
Every child is the one and only.
Honoring one's father and mother is only one of two lessons on family life in the parasha.
Yitro's proclamation
Why Yitro used "measure for meaure" to proclaim G-d's rule
Were there not other great things that could have made Yitro say, ‘Now I know,’ such as the actual redemption or the splitting of the sea?
Yitro:
The outsider
Sometimes, just sometimes, when the nation of Israel is at a low ebb, when we are vulnerable and uncertain, when we need strengthening, G-d sends us a leader like Yitor from outside who can provide that emboldenment.
Beshalach:
Shabbat Shirah
When G-d grants us victory over our enemies, when He destroys our enemies who oppress us, we are obligated to thank Him with ecstatic praise. Anything less denotes extreme ingratitude
Eretz Yisrael in the parsha:
The goal: Reaching Eretz Yisrael
Young religious Zionist Torah scholars find connections between the Torah reading and the Holy Land.
Beshalach;
This is my G-d
What do I do for a G-d who forged a personal relationship with me and showed me His tender love? I beautify Him. I make Him as beautiful as I can.
When Pharaoh sent them out
Who freed the slaves - Hashem or Pharaoh?
Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:
Bo: The Special Pesach Offering
Why may the korban pesach only be eaten at the nighttime? And why must it be roasted?
Office of the UK Chief Rabbi:
Am Yisrael Chai
Following the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, to which I accompanied King Charles, we can be certain, perhaps more than at any other time before, of the truth that Am Yisrael Chai.
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?
Prashat Bo:
Ten plagues and nine ceasefires
A lesson of hope for today from this week's Torah reading.
The Parasha and Current Events: Bo
Existential challenges
Tje hareidi and religious Zionist total 22% and the others 78% of Israel's population. These numbers parallel the demographics of our ancestors on the eve of the Exodus!
Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha: Vaera
What is "morasha"?
Religious Zionist scholars find and explain connections between Torah readings and the Holy Land. This week: The Land of Israel as a "morasha."
Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi: Vaera
Hamotzi - For all times
What is the difference between motzi and ha-motzi?
Le’David Barchi Nafshi: Vaera
The awesome Might of G-d
The miracles in Egypt demonstrate to our ancestors and to us through every generation the awesome Might of God.
Parashat Vaera:
The profound mystery of Moshe's assignment
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.
The First Commandment: Find the courage to heal
"Let My People Go!" But Can They Let Themselves Go?
Parashat Vaera:
You must CHOOSE Hashem!
Why would Hashem give Moshe, as evidence for Pharaoh, something which could be reproduced by others and thus undermine its claim to be supernatural?
Parashat Vaera:
The Parsha and Current Events: Prepare
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.
Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha:
What is the 'gomeh' that lined Moses' ark?
Religious Zionist scholars find and explain connections between Torah readings and the Holy Land. This week: Milk and honey, tsaddikim, 'gomeh'.
Shemot:
Responding to evil: Then and now
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?
Le’David Barchi Nafshi: Shmot
Egypt and Amalek
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?
'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.
Torah Mitzion:
Shifra and Puah: Defiant midwives, deliverers of a Nation
Saving one life can be as impactful as saving an entire nation.
Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch: Shmot
A most unusual baby
Moshe didn't draw attention to himself, even as an infant.
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha
Vayechi: The road to the heart
Yosef targeted his brothers' feelings by appealing to their minds.
The theme of Vayigash and Vayechi: Jews belong in Eretz Yisrael
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.
Vayechi:
Constructive speech prevents harmful speech
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.
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!
Is it blessed to be like a fish?
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.
Le’David Barchi Nafshi: Vayigash
What part of Judah's speech touched Joseph's heart?
The stories of our ancestors are recorded for us in the Torah as a lesson for the generations. Joseph did not act for reasons of personal revenge, but with a spiritual motive that should guide us.
Torah Mitzion:
Path of Menashe
Menashe's synthesizing role—balancing Joseph's universalism with Judah's particularism.
Office of the UK Chief Rabbi
How to make your voice heard
D’var Torah for Parshat Vayigash.
Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:
Vayigash: Yaakov's strange answer
G-d wants us to accomplish, not just exist.
Vayigash:
The dependable sibling
Just because we are dependable doesn’t mean we are constant. Just because we are constant doesn’t mean we are dependable. In which category do Joseph's brothers fall? And where are we?
Vayigash:
'I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?'
Why did Joseph ask a question to which he had already been give the answer?
Le’David Barchi Nafshi: Miketz
How Joseph achieved greatness
“For God was with him - the name of God was always on his lips.”
Miketz:
Why was Pharaoh blown away by Joseph?
The State of the Jewish Nation means navigating paradox.
Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha: Miketz
"Everything that happened to Joseph happened to Zion"
Young, Religious Zionist Torah scholars explore the connection between the Toraph portion of the week and the Holy Land.
Torah Mitzion:
The secret of Hanukkah in the promise to Aharon HaKohen
Rashi explains the juxtaposition of the section on the menorah to the section on the offerings of the princes, but what does it mean for our time?
Office of the UK Chief Rabbi
First, establish the facts…
If you want to solve a problem, you need to have the facts, whether they are needed to solve Pharaoh's dreams or the was in Gaza and Lebanon.
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?
Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:
Vayeishev: The special teshuvah of Reuben
After repairing his soul, Reuben returned and looked at the pit.
The Parsha and Current Events:
Sudden and extreme changes
Something big is happening now in our world; changes which are on a Biblical scale.
Torah Mitzion:
The ancient source of Jewish resilience
Jewish resilience is incomparable, but when we understand who our ancestors were and the values they inculcated into us, we begin to understand where it comes from.
Office of the UK Chief Rabbi
How can we bring peace between rivals?
Parashat Vayeishev portrays the dilemma of Jacob and his rival sons.
Parashat Vayeishev:
The impure sources of Redemption
First, how could the Mashiach be the product of a problematic union? Surely his ancestry has to be unblemished!
Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:
Vayishlach: Pillars and sanctuaries
Why does it matter whether the worshippers gather around a pillar outside or pray inside a sanctuary?
Vayishlach:
Do you have everything?
The truth is that no one person can have everything.
Parshat Vayishlach:
Sciatic nerve - or loss of nerve?
The story of Jacob and the angel points to a time when the Jewish people will stand at the edge of return to their ancestral homeland, but hesitate to take the final step.
Truth to Yaakov
The essence of Yaakov is truth=emet, in its truest form.
Vayetze:
The omission of a blank space in the Torah-the Story of a People
No missing links.
Office of the UK Chief Rabbi:
Vayetzei: How do you respond to your dreams?
Our dream, right now, is “Beshuv Hashem et-shivat Tziyyon” — “May Hashem enable the captives of Zion to come home.”
The Parsha and Current Events:
A many splendored thing
To love being Jewish is to strive to be as close to Hashem as humanly possible. And to be close to Hashem means to live in the land He gave the Jewish people.
Torah Mitzion:
The ladder
Why did Hashem send Yaakov the angels on the ladder vision now?
Are you yearning for the Land?
Over and over, the Book of Bereshit emphasizes the centrality of Eretz Yisrael to Jewish life. Instead of merely reading through the events described in the Torah portion “Vayetze” in a superficial fashion, let’s take a deeper look through the eyes of our Sages.
Le’David Barchi Nafshi: Toldot
How can the Sages ascribe the attribute of truth to Jacob?
The actions of the Patriarchs were not performed in their time for their needs alone, but to give strength to their descendants. How did Jacob's tricking his father fall into that category?
Le’David Barchi Nafshi:
A woman of virtue who can find? Why Abraham sent Eliezer to Haran
Why not choose a wife for Yitschak from the families in Canaan? At a deeper level, the problem with the people of the land was not that they were idolatrous, but something harder to change.
