During the second 3 days of choshekh in which the darkness was tangible and the Mitzriim could not move, how did they eat? After all, an oath not to eat for 3 days is considered suspect, and we wait in expectation that the person will need to violate it. Read More »

One can use this to explain the whole notion of breaking the [first] Tablets, for which I have not found an explanation. At first glance, understanding seems closed off. Read More »

דלמא: ר’ בא בר זבדא, ורבי תנחום בר עילאי, ור’ יאשיה נפקוי לתעניתא. דרש ר’ בא בר זבדא (איכה ג: מא) “נִשָּׂא לְבָבֵנוּ אֶל כַּפָּיִם, [אֶל אֵ-ל בַּשָּׁמָיִם.].” “נשא לבבנו אל כפים” — ואיפשר כן” אית בר נש דנסב ליביה ויהיב גו ידיה? אלא, מהו נשא? נשוי ליבינן לכך ידינן, ואחר כך “אל א-ל בשמים. Read More »

תניא: אמרו עליו על הלל הזקן, כשהיה שמח בשמחת בית השואבה אמר כן: “אם אני כאן, הכל כאן. ואם איני כאן. מי כאן?” A beraisa: They said about Hillel the Elder, when he was happy during Simchas Beis haShoeivah would say like this: If I am here, then all are here. Read More »

AS A BEGINNING OF this preparation, so that one is ready to acquire Torah, the Torah requires specific conditions. The first condition is toil and contemplation, as our sages explain “’If in my statues you go’ (Vayiqra 26: 3 ) … that you should be toiling in the Torah. Read More »

This is also how it works with the emanation/assistance, the dew of heaven, of acquiring wisdom. Every person is worthy of grace from the One above some increase in wisdom, to take root in his soul some deep root. Read More »

WITH THIS it is possible to get a feeling for the idea that is told in the Talmud in an amazing story about the holy man Nachum ish Gam Zu. One time he did not fulfill the mitzvah of charity as he felt he should. He decreed upon himself that his eyes go blind, his hands whither, and his feet be amputated. His decree was fulfilled. Read More »

The central theme of religion is whether the values, ritual, and system of thought work. The issues of genesis, the flood, or the tower of Babel are tangential, and out the outskirts of the Torah as a “theory” of meaning and purpose in life. It’s like studying modern physics. Read More »

With this idea one can understand how charity has the effect of enriching the one who performs it, as the sages say on the verse “’ aseir ta’aseir – you shall surely tithe’ – tithe, so that you shall become rich – shetis’asheir ” . Read More »

Similarly it is appropriate to think about all the gifts of heaven “from the dew of the heavens and the fat of the land” ( Bereishis 27: 38) that they are given to the Jewish people as a whole. Read More »

With this idea one can understand how charity has the effect of enriching the one who performs it, as the sages say on the verse “’ aseir ta’aseir – you shall surely tithe’ – tithe, so that you shall become rich – shetis’asheir ” . Read More »

Compare these two snippets. I added color to highlight my point. First, Bereishis 14: 19-20. A massive regional war just completed, and Avraham joins the kings he fought with. Read More »

Similarly it is appropriate to think about all the gifts of heaven “from the dew of the heavens and the fat of the land” ( Bereishis 27: 38) that they are given to the Jewish people as a whole. Read More »

In my opinion, this idea is hinted at in Hillel’s words, as he used to say, “If I am [not] for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am I?” It is fitting for each person to strive to be concerned for himself. Read More »

I just received the following request via aishdas.org’s “contact us” form. Aside from an opportunity to help the religiously thirsty, for those of us in the US, or support what the US is doing in Afghanistan, it’s an opportunity for hakaras hatov (recognizing the good) performed by these soldiers. Read More »

And there are more levels in this of a person who is whole, who can connect his soul to feel that all of the world and worlds are his “I”, and he himself is only one small limb in all of creation. Then, his self-love helps him love all of the Jewish people and [even] all of creation. Read More »

… And above him is someone who can include in his “I” all of his household and family. Someone who walks according to the way of the Torah, his “I” includes the whole Jewish people, since in truth every Jewish person is only like a limb of the body Read More »

The entire “I” of a coarse and lowly person is restricted only to his substance and body. Above him is someone who feels that his “I” is a synthesis of body and soul. Read More »

Although at first glance it seems that feelings of love for oneself and feelings of love for others are like competing co-wives one to the other, we have the duty to try to delve into it, to find the means to unite them, since Hashem expects both from us. Read More »

Reasons to Attend Mussar Institute Kallah IX Where: The Mussar Kallah will take place at beautiful and serene Illinois Beach Resort, located in Zion, Illinois, amid 4,100 acres of a protected state park, right on the shore of Lake Michigan. Read More »