UNIVERSAL TORAH: SHELACH LECHA By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum Torah Reading: SHELACH LECHA, Numbers 13:1-15:41 Haftara: Joshua 2:1-24 With the arrival of the summer solstice and the longest day of the year, we are now standing on the threshold of TEKUFAT TAMMUZ, “the season of the month of Tammuz”, the hottest time of the year. For…
Category: 613 mitzvos
The Reasons Behind the Mitzvot
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 21b) states: “Rabbi Yitzchak said: Why were the reasons behind the Mitzvot not revealed? Because there were two Mitzvot whose reasons were revealed and one of the greatest of men, King Solomon, failed in them.” This refers to the following two Mitzvot: The Torah (Devarim 17) states regarding a king of Israel,…
PARSHA SHEMINI
SECTION XXVI.SHEMINI. LEVITICUS 9 (ONKELOS) — 1 And on the eighth day Mosheh called Aharon and his sons and the elders of Israel. 2 And he said unto Aharon, Take to thee a calf, a young bullock from the herd, for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering unblemished, and offer before…
“What is this Service to You?”
The Pesach Haggadah states: “What does the wicked son say? ‘What is this service to you,’ this implies ‘to you’ and not ‘to himself’. Since he has excluded himself, he has thus denied the existence of Hashem. You should therefore likewise blunt his teeth (scold him) and reply to him, ‘Because of this did Hashem…
TORAH: VAYAKHEL-PEKUDEY
UNIVERSAL TORAH: VAYAKHEL-PEKUDEY By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum This week’s Torah reading is the double portion of VAYAKHEL, Exodus 35:1-38:20 & PEKUDEY 38:21-40:38. VAYAKHEL: Exodus 35:1-38:20 GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE The parshah of VAYAKHEL opens with the words: “And Moses gathered together all the Community of Israel.” (Exodus 35:1). According to our sages, Moses’ gathering of…
PARSHA TERUMAH – LIFTING UP
JACOB’S CEDARS “And you shall make THE boards for the Sanctuary from the wood of cedar trees STANDING upright” (Ex. 26:15). On this, Rashi comments: “It should have simply said, ‘you shall make boards’ in the same way as was said of everything else. What are ‘THE boards’? These were boards from those that were…
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Parsha BESHALLACH (ONKELOS)
BESHALLACH (When he let go) 17 And it was when Pharoh had sent the people away, that the Lord led them not by the way of the land of the Philistaee because it was the nearest: for the Lord said, Lest the people be terrified at the seeing of war, and return to Mizraim. 18 But…
Parsha Summary – Parshas Beshalach
Parshas Beshalach
Note: The Shabbos Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading.
Parashat Beshalach / פרשת בשלח
UNIVERSAL TORAH: BESHALACH By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum Torah Reading: Exodus 13:17-17:16 Haftara: Judges 4:4-5:31 (Sephardi ritual: Judges 5:1-31). INTO THE WILDERNESS Fairy tales may end happily ever after, but the Torah is an encounter with reality, in which progress and breakthroughs are frequently accompanied by reverses and obstacles. The climactic drama of the Exodus, related…
Parshas Bo
Note: The Shabbos Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading. 1st & 2nd Aliyot: Moshe and Aharon forewarned Pharaoh about the Locust. His advisors begged Pharaoh to consider Moshe’s…
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