“The Torah has at its beginning chessed and at its end chessed. At the beginning Hashem gave clothes to Odom and Chava and at the end He buried Moshe Rabbeinu.” (Sotah 14a). Chazal’s statement not only connects the end of the Torah with its beginning, which is always a theme of darshanim at this time…
Both Shevuos and Simchas Hatorah celebrate our connection with, or better, love, for the Torah. Two explanations differentiate between them. One is the Dubner Maggid’s well-known mashal of the young man who agreed to marry the king’s daughter without having seen her. Once he found out how beautiful and intelligent the princess was, he asked…
1. Q. If melachos are necessary for Yom Tov but not for food or other personal needs are they allowed? A. They are allowed but only if they do not involve skilled or heavy work, and you did not deliberately wait until Chol Hamoed to do them. If a melacha will probably be needed…
Some years Parshas Ha’azinu falls on Shabbos Shuva when we are preparing for Yom Kippur. If we are beinonim, neither complete tzaddikim nor complete rashaim, our lives are in the balance during those days. We may be written in the Book of Life on Yom Kippur if our teshuva is accepted, but we cannot be…
In chapter 32 verse 48, Hashem tells Moshe to go up onto the mountain to die. Why are we ending off the Torah with something so sad? The answer can be found in these words: וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בְּעֶ֛צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר׃ That very day the LORD spoke to Moses. Rashi says that this phrase…
In Pirkei Avos (3:1) we learn: Akavya ben Mehalalel says: “Consider three things and you will not come to sin: know where you came from, where you are going to and in front of Whom you will have to give a reckoning. You came from a putrid drop; you are going to a place of…
One of the key points of the machzor on both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is Unesaneh Tokef followed by BeRosh Hashana yekoseivun BeYom Tzom Kippur yechoseimun. Tears flow as we contemplate whether we will be among those who will be written down for life or, chas vesholom, among those who will not survive the…
The posuk in parshas Vayelech, (Devarim 31:18) “ I will hide My face on that day,” forces us to remember the Holocaust which took place nearly eighty years ago, what happened and what could have happened. Shortly before the Second World War began, a young talmid chochom learning in the Brisk Yeshiva in Europe was…
Ten Short Essays in Preparation For Rosh Hashana Copyright: Rabbi Michoel Fletcher Comments: [email protected] WHAT I LEARNED FROM OUR PASSIFLORA Passiflora, otherwise known as passion fruit, grows in our neighbour’s garden in Ramat Bet Shemesh. It has grown and grown until it reached the first floor, where we live. It ‘spotted’ our balcony and climbed on to…
This final haftora of comfort envisages the highest possible level of simcha – rejoicing with Hashem. Sos osis B’Hashem tagel nafshi b’Elokai. (Yeshaya 61:10). I will rejoice deeply with Hashem, my soul will exult with my G-d. He has dressed me in the clothes of salvation… like a bridegroom who exalts himself with splendor, like…