by admin | Aug 10, 2017 | American, American
Twice a day we recite the second paragraph of Kri’at Shema, taken from this week’s parashah. By the age of twenty, we have said it well over 10,000 times! If we have paid any attention to what we’ve been saying, we know that it talks about the blessings we will...
by admin | Jul 26, 2017 | American, American
THE SOURCE OF ALL OUR TROUBLES This week’s parashah is always read on the Shabbat before Tish’a B’Av (Shabbat Chazon). How appropriate, then, that it contains a recap of the Sin of the Spies, the sin that gave Tish’a B’Av its calamitous nature. I already mentioned...
by admin | Jul 19, 2017 | American, American
BESIDES ALL ELSE, IT’S A MITZVAH For the past 300 (or so) pages, we have discussed many aspects of the special qualities of Eretz Yisrael. Quoting Scriptures, Midrashim, Gemarot, Rishonim and Acharonim, we have demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Jew’s...
by admin | Jul 19, 2017 | American, American
LET’S GET OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT The Children of Reuven and the Children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock… They said to Moshe and Elazar… Let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not bring us across the Jordan. (32:1-5)...
by admin | Jul 12, 2017 | American, American
This week’s parashah contains the story of B’not Tzlofchad, those courageous and idealistic women who cherished the Land of Israel and demanded a portion in it. The first verse states, – The daughters of Tzlofchad, son of Chefer, son of Gil’ad, son of Machir, son of...
by admin | Jul 6, 2017 | American, American
BALAK TEMPORARY TENTS OR PERMANENT DWELLINGS מה טובו אוהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל (במדבר כד:ה) How goodly are your tents, O Ya’akov, your dwelling places, O Yisrael (24:5). What exactly are “the tents of Ya’akov” and “the dwelling places (משכנות) of Yisrael”? ...