The extraordinary devotion of the Torah to all of the intricate details of the celebration of Pesach and of its sacrifice strikes one as demanding explanation. After all, the Torah will command many mitzvoth to the Jewish people in the course of the next books of the Torah, without necessarily going into particulars and details about their method of observance. All of that, so to speak, was...
Pharaoh and Egypt sustain a slew of plagues and misfortunes as they are vividly recorded in this week’s parsha. There are those among the Egyptian leadership who waver and realize that Egypt is lost if it does not allow the Jews to be freed from slavery and to leave Egypt. But Pharaoh is still not convinced. His heart is not only hardened but it is unalterably predisposed to refuse the...
My Israeli passport has run its course, all of its pages are full with the entry and exit stamps so lovingly applied at Ben Gurion airport, and therefore I am forced to obtain a new passport. In the process of applying for this new passport I took time to leaf through the pages of my previous passport. In so doing a flood of memories overcame me. I remembered trips that I took, places that I...
“I am hooked on books. If I had unlimited space in my home and unlimited shekels in my bank account, I know that my library would at least triple in size on an annual basis.” – Rabbi Berel Wein As a noted author and voluminous reader himself, Rabbi Berel Wein brings vast knowledge and life experience to each of his reviews. Here is a listing of some of his recommended readings...
In spite of all rumors to the contrary and all machinations at the United Nations, the Palestinian people are really stateless. They have two governing bodies, one in Gaza ruled by Hamas and the other is located in portions of the West Bank ruled by Fatah. In spite of all of the trappings of sovereignty, neither entity seems to be interested in or engaged in state-building. Their stated,...
In this week’s parsha we are introduced to the most central figure in all of Jewish history - even in all civilized history, our teacher Moshe. The Torah, as is its wont, does not tell us many details about the life of Moshe from the time he was just past twenty years of age, fleeing from Pharaoh’s wrath at his killing of an Egyptian taskmaster, until his reemergence as the leader of the...
Having just been privileged to attend and participate at the wedding of a granddaughter in the United States my thoughts naturally wander to contemplate the future of my generations. One thing is certain – they will live in a far different world than the one that I lived in. When I grew up in Chicago in the early-middle part of the last century, European Jewry was being destroyed and Orthodox...
The holy book of Bereshith comes to its conclusion in this week’s parsha. The story of the creation of the Jewish people through the development of one family over a number of generations and by the perseverance of the great personalities of our patriarchs and matriarchs is now complete. This raises the question originally posed in Rashi’s commentary to the very beginning of the book of...
ספר בראשית מגיע לסיומו בפרשת השבוע. הסיפור של בריאת העולם ושל התפתחות העם היהודי ממשפחה אחת לאורך כמה דורות עם התמדה ועקשנות של האבות והאמהות הגדולים שלנו, מגיע כעת לסיומו. זה מעלה שוב את השאלה שמציג רש"י בפירושו...
לאחר שנפלה בחלקי לא מכבר הזכות להשתתף בחתונה של נכדתי בארצות הברית, מחשבותיי נדדו, מטבע הדברים, אל העתיד של הדורות הבאים. דבר אחד בטוח: הם יחיו בעולם שונה מאוד מזה שאני חייתי בו. כשאני גדלתי בשיקגו בחצי הראשון של...
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