Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Tzav: Rise and shine

Judaism flourishes in light, not darkness.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Vayikra: Are you happy?

A korban shelamim is the quintessential “Jewish” offering.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Pekudei: Dress up

Clothes have the power to change us.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Vayakhel: Single, double, triple pay

"Ain;t gonna work on Saturday" is a much loved children's song . But why does the Torah forbid some non-strenuous activities on Shabbat?

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Ki Tisa: Not just for children

Hashem wants mature, robust adults serving Him.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch: Tetsave

More red than blue

The kohen’s avnet represents the life we should all live.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Terumah: A team effort

Thinking and acting must always go together.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Mishpatim: Watch your diet?

The Torah quickly disabuses us of a popular notion.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: Yitro

Rendering yourself non-existent

Don’t smother the unique characteristics with which Hashem blessed you.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Parashat Bo: How free were we?

Matzah reminds us that we left Egypt thanks to G-d’s grace alone.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch: Vaera

Frogs galore

What exactly were Egypt's magicians up to?

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.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Vayigash: Yaakov's strange answer

G-d wants us to accomplish, not just exist.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Miketz: Rejoicing in another's happiness

Pity comes naturally; sympathy doesn't.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch: Vayeshev

Why Shechem?

Equality before G-d is supposed to govern human society.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Vayishlach: Won't you be my neighbor?

Esav sought to escape Yaakov's influence.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Vayetze: G-d loves, and demands

G-d is our father… and our lawgiver.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Toldot: What was Rivkah thinking?

Even if she could fool Yitzchak, there's no fooling G-d.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: Chayei Sarah

Did Avraham have a daughter?

If he did, what happened to her?

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Vayera: The first act of the first Jew

Avraham rushed to serve pagan guests.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Lech Lecha: Sarah’s miscalculation

Avraham’s spirit elevated Hagar into an entirely different person.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Noach: Can ‘man’ mean ‘woman’?

A functioning society is impossible without objective language.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Bereishit: G-d’s ‘personality’

Imparting pure philosophical truth isn’t the Torah’s primary aim.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

V’zot Habrachah: Exiting the stage

We all have a role to play in the divine plan.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Haazinu: Looking for an excuse

Denying religious truth is often convenient.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Nitzavim-Vayelech: A tide that doesn’t raise all boats

A Jew can't ride on the coattails of the righteous.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on Ki Tavo:

You can’t pick and choose

One category of sin isn’t “better” than another.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Ki Tetze: Female power

The fate of a nation rests on its mothers.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Shoftim: What’s wrong with magic?

Our actions – not “black arts” – determine our future.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Re’eh: Between the head and the heart

Truth, not feelings, must govern our actions.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Ekev: G-d provides

Supporting a family is no excuse for violating the Torah’s commands.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Vaetchanan: Black and white

Truth isn’t equivocal, and we dare not present it as such.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Devarim: Intelligence is overrated - even in the courts

Just verdicts are primarily the product of character, not IQ.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Matos-Maasei: Why Is Tumah Bad?

Our body must ultimately succumb to nature; not so our soul.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Parashat Pinchas: Speak up!

Hashem wants us to defend His honor.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Balak: Our moral core

Bilaam couldn’t harm us, but our own misbehavior did.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Chukat: A boy can do it

We’re all born with free will to choose right from wrong.

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch:

Shelach: Jewish giants

The physical world may affect our spiritual nature more than we realize.

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch:

Behaalotcha: Patience is a virtue

Our ancestors didn’t know their arrival and departure dates.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Naso: Chinuch and chenek

Why are the Hebrew words for education and strangulation connected?

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Bamidbar: She’s family

In Jewish law, a maidservant isn’t a lowly slave.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch:

Bechukotai: Is Jew-hatred immutable?

Hashem promised us three periods of exile – each one better than the next.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Parshat Behar: Come home

Why did Yericho’s walls crumble to the ground?

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch:

Parashat Kedoshim: How can you love someone like yourself?

The Torah doesn’t demand the impossible.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Put on your weekday clothes with care

Torah truth must permeate a person’s mundane life.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Sharing isn’t optional

Private property comes with responsibilities – to others.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Tzaraas isn’t leprosy

The laws of tzaraas are incomprehensible if we adopt the general translation.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Tethered to the past

Our mission and our ancestors’ mission are one and the same.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Do you care?

Animosity is often better than indifference.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Enmeshed in darkness

Why couldn’t the Jews erect the Mishkan at night?

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Mirrors in the Mishkan

G-d wants us to sanctify the physical, not shun it.

Rav Samson R. Hirsch on the parsha: Want to be free?

The Torah enables us to rise above the natural order.

Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch on the parsha: Hold its feet

The Jewish lamb is happy, joyful, and virile – not meek.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: 6 and 1

The menorah teaches us how to live our lives.

Rabbi Hirsch: Cardiac Jews, Orthopraxic Jews

Neither the heart nor the deed is sufficient. G-d wants both.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Year zero

We’re not supposed to start from scratch every generation.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Speak up!

Tell your children what you believe and why.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Moshe wasn’t G-d

The Torah wanted to make sure we didn’t get carried away.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Religion isn’t a game

​​​​​​​Pharaoh didn’t take Moshe seriously because he didn’t take his own religion seriously.