Seven days after the Exodus from Egypt, which we read about last week, the nation stood on the shores of the Red Sea and expected redemption. The sea blocked their route ahead of them and the Egyptian army with its speedy chariots threatened them from behind. There was no escape. And just when they felt utter despair, God instructed Moses: “Speak to the children of … Continue reading Parashat Beshalach / פרשת בשלח
AND IT SHALL BE FOR A SIGN. The lessons of the Torah are not to remain in the mind. “And you shall know (VEYADAATA) today and bring it DOWN TO YOUR HEART that HaShem is the G-d in the heavens above and on the earth below, there is none other” (Deut. 4:39). The Exodus was the greatest ever revelation in history so far of DAAS … Continue reading Parashat Bo / פרשת בא
Jacob and ShemaVayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27)Jacob goes to meet his long-lost son, Joseph. Their meeting is quite emotional, as we wouldhave expected.Genesis 46:29“Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father, to Goshen, and he appearedbefore him, he fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck for a long time.”RASHIAnd he wept on his neck for a long time – RASHI: This … Continue reading WHAT IS RASHI SAYING?
בס”ד שמות Sefer שמות begins the six week (or eight week, in a leap year) period, known as שובבים, which is the acronym of the six first פרשיות. This word comes from ירמיהו where it’s written, says the שלה הקדוש and others, שובו בנים שובבים. It’s written that ימי השובבים are equated with יה”כ- בעשור לחודש=926=תיקון שובבים.Similar to חנוכה, this מנהג of שובבים, was revealed … Continue reading Adv Parashat Shemot / פרשת שמות
THE ENTIRE EXISTENCE OF THE WORLD IS FROM THE
POWER OF TORAH Continue reading DIVREY YA’AKOV Lesson 6
Taste and See HASHEM is Good! For the cloud of HASHEM would be on the Tabernacle by day, and the fire would be on it by night before the eyes of all the children of Israel throughout their journeys. (Shemos 40:38) Perhaps your heart will say, “Just as it shined for Israel did it not also shine for the nations of the world?” So the … Continue reading Parashat Vayechi / פרשת ויחי
CHAPTER FIVETHE GIVING OF TORAH AT MT. SINAI.THE RESULTS OF EVERY HOUR A JEW LEARNS THEHOLY TORAH, AND FEELINGS OF CLOSENESS TOHASHEM RESULTING FROM TORAH STUDY[INCLUDING SOME ASPECTS OF BELIEF IN HASHEM] The giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai is described at length inthe Torah in parshat Yitro – see the text inside for full detail. It isimpossible to elaborate here about this; however … Continue reading DIVREY YA’AKOV LESSON 5
VAYIGASH Torah Reading: VAYIGASH Gen. 44:18-47:27. “AND JUDAH STEPPED FORWARD.” The key to the dramatic encounter between Judah and Joseph with which our parshah of VAYIGASH begins is to be found in the Haftara our sages attached to this parshah: Ezekiel’s vision of the joining of the two sticks. One stick the prophet was to inscribe with the names of Judah and the Children of … Continue reading Parashat Vayigash / פרשת ויגש
The מדרש brings from איוב the phrase קץ שם לחשך, which means an end to the darkness. Yosef comes out of prison, the dungeon he was in for ten years. As we saw before, חשך stands for the Greek empire, which also came to an end with the נס of חנוכה. This is always the פרשה of שבת חנוכה =קץ חשך-518= להדליק נר חנוכה.Theארי says … Continue reading ADV Parashat Miketz מקץ
THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF TORAH STUDY AND MITZVOTIN THE UPPER WORLDS, THE BENEFITS FOR THE JEWISHNATION AND HOW A PERSON MUST AWAKENHIMSELF TO SERVE HASHEM, THEREBY HELPING THEJEWISH PEOPLE It is clear from the holy Zohar and other Kabbalistic booksthat apart from our world, Hashem created many countlessmultitudes of worlds and higher spiritual energies. Through themitzvot and good deeds of the Jewish nation, these worlds arebuilt … Continue reading DIVREY YA’AKOV LESSON FOUR
Early on in his laws of repentance, Maimonides gives us a definition of the highest form of repentance: What is complete repentance? When we are confronted with a situation in which we previously sinned and could do so again, but this time we desist not out of fear or weakness but because we have repented. An example: a man has sexual relations with a woman … Continue reading Parashat Miketz / פרשת מקץ
CLOSENESS TO HASHEM CHAPTER THREEHOW HASHEM CONSTANTLY PERPETUATES THEWHOLE WORLD AND INTEGRATING THIS KNOWLEDGEINTO ONE’S SERVICE OF HASHEM “In the beginning the Lord created the heavens and theearth”. There are many fundamental differences betweenHashem creating the world and a person forming an item. Oneof these differences is that Hashem created the entire worldfrom absolutely nothing, whereas a person can only produce anitem from something that … Continue reading CLOSENESS TO HASHEM Class 3
