The following drosha was given at the Saranac Synagogue in Buffalo on the second day of Passover, 5747 (1987), and transcribed from memory by Jeffery Zucker. Comments and questions are very welcome. A brief thought by way of introduction: The Gemara (Brachos 63b) says that R’ Yehuda was the main speaker at every function he […]

Adapted for this series from Rabbi Yaacov Haber’s “REACHINGS” Rav Gifter, the great Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland, flew one day, with a number of his students, to a wedding in Baltimore. They had to change planes in some city on the way to Baltimore. While they were waiting at the airport […]

Adapted for this series from Rabbi Yaacov Haber’s “REACHINGS” Short Story: Two brothers lived on two sides of a mountain. One was rich but had no children, one had many children but was very poor. The rich brother thought, I have so much my brother has so little, let me secretly cross the mountain in […]

adapted for this series from Rabbi Yaacov Haber’s “REACHINGS” A true story from the Six Day War: Many areas of Jerusalem were being shelled, including Mea Shearim, which contained a number of yeshivot. The students of one of these, the famous Mir Yeshiva, just like everyone else, spent their time in a bomb shelter. They […]

Once a disciple of a certain Chassidic Rebbe noticed his Rebbe dancing happily on the Ninth of Av. He was astonished by this behavior, for everyone knew that Tisha B’Av was not a time for happiness, but for mourning. As the disciple came closer he noticed that while the Rebbe was dancing so happily, tears […]

Close your eyes and imagine what the world must have looked like on the first day of creation. Pristine, fresh, untainted, healthy and unpolluted. Man is created. He is naive, pure and innocent. His face shines from the goodness of his unadulterated soul. His tongue is holy because he has never told a lie. His […]

At some point in every person’s life, G-d grants them a prophecy: a vision of himself or herself as the greatest individual they can become. In Kabbalistic language this is referred to as isarusa dleyla or an awakening from above. This prophecy is not a result of the toil of man but rather a gift […]

(based on a “Tomer Devorah” class by Rabbi Yaacov Haber) There are three Hebrew synonyms: “Selichah,” “Mechilah,” and “Kapparah,” all related to the idea of “forgiveness.” What does each mean? “Selichah,” usually translated as “forgiveness” is the first step which must be taken if someone has committed a sin, whether it be against G-d or […]

The very first Rashi in the Torah makes the following comment. “Really, the Torah should have began with Hachodesh Hazeh Lachem (the Mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh) but a time will come when the nations of the world will call us burglars for taking the land of Israel. At that time we should tell them how […]

he Torah, in describing the Giving of the Law, says: “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet G-d, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain” (Exod. 19:17). The actual Hebrew for the last phrase is: “Visyatzvu BESACHTIS hahar”, which could be translated more literally as: “they stood UNDER the […]