The special Mitzva of Adar is to be BeSimcha, joyful. Not always an easy one (especially when told that you have to...) I find the following story to be a beautiful example of how Simcha itself can alleviate real problems. The two brothers, Reb Elimelech of Lizensk and Reb Zushe of Anipoli, often wandered about together, posing as …
Donation and higher meaning
Parshat Terumá I admit to being a rationalist, as far as possible... It carries me through Bereshis and most of Shemos, until we get to Terumah Tezave... My rational approach reaches its limits, as we read the forthcoming Parshiot of the Torah dealing with building material and utensils for the Mishkan. Here - I must …
You shall not mistreat a stranger – Shabbat Parshat Mishpatim
We will read this week the following verse: “And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Shemot. 22.20). At first glance, it seems extremely hard to understand. Was Egypt a good example for how to treat strangers? So why mention the context …
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Holocaust Remembrance Day – 80 years of the Wannsee Conference
Who is commemorating what? The Jews of the German capital had to board the trains of the German Reichsbahn in Berlin-Grunewald and in the Moabit Railway Station before everyone's eyes. In Majdanek, Treblinka and Auschwitz they were unloaded and gassed. Without the organisation and execution of the genocide by the German state in all its …
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Honest research – Shabbat Parshat Jitro
פרשת יתרו, יח,א:וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן, חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה ה' לְמֹשֶׁה, וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ: כִּי-הוֹצִיא ה' אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל, מִמִּצְרָיִם. "Now Moshe's father in law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard all that G-d had done for Moshe and for Yisrael His people, that Hashem had taken Israel out of Egypt". The Torah describes Jethro in that he is firstly Moshe Rabeinu's father in law, and …
Singing “carefree” – Shabbat Shira – Parshat Beshalach
We will read the Shira - אז ישיר משה ובני ישראל את השירה הזאת להשם. This is (usually) translated as: Then Moshe and the children of Israel sang this song to Hashem, and they spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for very exalted is he... The Gemara in Sanhedrin notices a short but important reference to …
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Parshat Bo – Divine Protection
This Friday will be the 23th Yahrzeit of my dear father and guide, Harav Pinchas Biberfeld זצ"ל, and I would like to dedicate the following Dvar Torah לעילוי נשמתו הטהורה : Our Parsha starts with the instruction of Hashem to Moshe Rabeinu "Bo El Paroh", i.e. "Come to Pharaoh". In Hebrew the sentence should say "Lech El Pharaoh" i.e. “Go to Pharaoh", as is appropriate grammatically. …
Parshat Vaera – The Empowerment of Moshe Rabeinu
We read at the start of the Parsha : (6,9) "Moshe spoke thus to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to him because of [their] shortness of breath and because of [their] hard labour." A few Pesukim later we read: (6, 12) "But Moshe spoke with Hashem, saying, "Behold, (even) Bnei Yisrael did not …
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Parshat Shemot: The consequences of Sinat Chinam – senseless hatred
We will read this week about Moshe Rabeinu's (having spent his youth at Pharaoh's protected castle,) first encounters with the "outside world“: „He went out on the second day, and behold, two Hebrew men were quarrelling, and he said to the wicked one, "Why are you going to strike your friend?" The man replied: "Who made …
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Parshat Vayechi: The connecting grace…
The second Pasuk of Vayechi reads: וַיִּקְרְב֣וּ יְמֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לָמוּת֒ וַיִּקְרָ֣א ׀ לִבְנ֣וֹ לְיוֹסֵ֗ף וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ אִם־נָ֨א מָצָ֤אתִי חֵן֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ שִֽׂים־נָ֥א יָדְךָ֖ תַּ֣חַת יְרֵכִ֑י וְעָשִׂ֤יתָ עִמָּדִי֙ חֶ֣סֶד וֶאֱמֶ֔ת אַל־נָ֥א תִקְבְּרֵ֖נִי בְּמִצְרָֽיִם׃ (Bereshit 47,29) "When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have now found favour in your …