Pesach Sheni 5767 We recite fifteen blessings every morning: ברוך… אשר נתן לשכוי בינה להבחין בין יום ובין לילה Blessed… who has given the rooster the ability to discern between light and darkness ברוך… שלא עשני גוי Blessed… for not making me a gentile ברוך… שלא עשני עבד Blessed… for not making me a slave

Parashat Tazria – Metzora 5767 Part One: This Dvar Torah is dedicated to a prominent rabbi in “yeshivish” circles in the United States, whom I met last Leil Shabbat (Friday night). He is very learned and a sweet man, who according to his words is awaiting a sign from Hashem that the time has come

Isru Chag HaPesach and Parshat Shemini 5767 “The Haggadah speaks of four sons: the wise, the evil, the naive and the ignoramus,” and parashat Shemini prohibits eating the four species which have only one characteristic of kashrut. Aside from the number four, one would be hard pressed to find a connection between the four sons

Shabbat HaGadol and Pessach 5767: A different set up questions Arba Kushi’yot Sheli – My Four Questions and Their Explanations. 1- What is the significance of the strange ceremony of bedikat chametz (searching for chametz.)? The Mishna is very specific that it be performed with a single candle; there is still chametz in the house;

Parashat Vayikra 5767 Rabbi Elazar says in Ketubot 111a: Whoever resides in Eretz Yisrael is without sin, as the prophet says (Yeshayahu 33:24): “Let no one say that he is ill from sins, for HaShem forgives the sins of all (Jews) who reside there (in Eretz Yisrael). 1- How are we to understand that the

Vayakhel-Pekudei 5767 Rabbanim are bombarded by questions applying to all phases of life and death, and we deal with them based on the knowledge and wisdom which Hashem has dispensed to each Rav according to his merit. But there is one question for which the answers are so varied and contradictory that they are a

Parshat Ki Tisa 5767 Did it ever cross your mind, that we Jews, the most clever people on earth, abide by a code of laws which no one understands. We know when to keep the respective mitzvot and how to keep them to the most minute detail, but even the greatest rabbi cannot explain the

Part I: Parashat Tetzaveh Part II: Purim Part I: Parashat Tetzaveh 5767 Our parsha discusses the kohanic garments. The “rank and file” kohanim wore four garments – pants, shirt, sash and turban – and the Kohen Gadol wore the above with an additional four garments. After donning the pants and shirt, the next garment was the avnet,

Part One: And I shall dwell within you Shemot 25:8 Make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell within them There is a problem with this pasuk (verse). Should it not rather say: Make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell within it I suggest the following: Tractate Yoma 69b relates that Ezra

Parshat Mishpatim 23:20 “Behold, I am sending an angel to protect you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared for you.” After we have completed reading and learning the parshiot which deal with the exodus from Egypt, and in the light of currents events, I wrote the following short