Using Elul Productively ספר שמות פרק לד וַיְהִי בְּרֶדֶת משֶׁה מֵהַר סִינַי וּשְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָעֵדֻת בְּיַד משֶׁה בְּרִדְתּוֹ מִן הָהָר וּמשֶׁה לֹא יָדַע כִּי קָרַן עוֹר פָּנָיו בְּדַבְּרוֹ אִתּוֹ: ל) וַיַּרְא אַהֲרֹן וְכָל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת משֶׁה וְהִנֵּה קָרַן עוֹר פָּנָיו וַיִּירְאוּ מִגֶּשֶׁת אֵלָיו: And when Moshe descended from Har Sinai, and the two tablets […]

“And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving — seven weeks, they shall be complete.” — Vayikra 23:15 Sefer HaChinuch: The Torah commands us to count the Omer so we can relive the Exodus from Mitzrayim. Just as the […]

“After the first set of Shofar blasts, a second set is sounded – in order to confuse the Soton.” Rosh HaShanah 16b On Rosh HaShanah we are obligated to hear the Shofar. To fulfill the Torah requirement, thirty sounds are sufficient. Yet, Chazal (our sages) instituted an extra series, adding many more blasts. Tosfos explains […]

“Do not covet the house of your neighbor. Do not covet the wife of your neighbor; his slave and maid servant, his ox, his donkey, and all that belongs to your neighbor.” – Shemos 20:14 The Even Ezra explains that people are perplexed by this mitzvah. How is it possible not to desire that which […]

“Moshe said: “So said HASHEM, ‘At about midnight, I shall go out in the midst of Egypt.” – Shemos 11:4 Moshe changed the wording After months and months of HASHEM showing the Mitzrim that He alone controls every aspect of Creation, Moshe was instructed to warn Pharaoh that if he still wouldn’t let the Jewish […]

 The Miracle of the Oil Why do we celebrate Chanukah? “When the Yivanim entered the Bais HaMikdash, they defiled all the oil set aside for lighting the Menorah. When the Chashmonoim were victorious, they searched and were able to find only one small jug of oil with the Kohain Gadol’s seal intact. It had sufficient […]

“And Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, and HASHEM moved the sea with a strong eastern wind all the night, and He turned the sea to damp land and the water split.” — Shemos 14:21 Egypt, the country that bragged that no slave had ever escaped its land, stood by helplessly as the […]

Purim On the 13th of Nissan, Haman approached Achashverosh with his plan: the complete annihilation of the Jewish people. Achasverosh agreed, and the wheels were set in motion. The Targum tells us that Eliyahu Ha’Navi came to Mordechai and informed him of all that had transpired. Mordechai immediately sent word to Esther, asking her to […]

S’firah as a time of mourning “Rebbe Akiva had 24,000 students from Givas to Antipras. All of them died in one time period because they didn’t treat each other with kavod. That time period was between Pesach and Shavuos.” (Yevamos 62b) With these words, the Gemarah explains why S’firah, a joyful time when we prepare […]

“The main reason for the decree against the Jewish people was because the Kohanim became lazy in their service.” – Bach, Tur Shulchan Aruch 670 Almost every yom tov has a festive meal associated with it; Chanukah does not. The Bach explains that Chazal established these days as a time of “praise and thanksgiving,” purely […]