“Noach was a perfect tzaddik.” There is no other individual whom the Torah praises in such a way – a perfect tzaddik. This means that he never sinned – not in public, not in private, not in deed, not in thought. Yet immediately afterwards the Torah seems to take something away from Noach. He was…
Simchos Bais Hashoeva come in various shapes and sizes. Some take place in a Succa, some in Simcha halls, others in private rooms. At some, people dance to live music, at others people sit in their seats and sing. Some have several droshos, others none at all. Most are simchadik with a joyful Succos atmosphere….
The Gemara Megila (9a) tells that Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, once gathered seventy-two Jewish elders and put them in separate rooms without telling them why. He then instructed them to write down the text of the Torah. He had separated them to prevent them from conferring together: Had the elders just written the traditional…
With Succos coming very soon, it is perhaps a good idea to review some halochos of Yom Tov, in particular where they differ from Hilchos Shabbos. It is always beneficial to understand the background to practical halachos in order to have a better grasp of them. We know that on Yom Tov we are allowed…
In the Musaf Shemone Esre of Yom Tov we say, “Rebuild Your Temple….establish Your site….May we go up there three times a year…as it says in Your Torah, “Three times a year shall all men appear before Hashem Elokecho….on Pesach, on Shevuos and on Succos . Do not appear empty-handed. Each should come with his…
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…
In the parsha of Ki Sovo, we read about the vidui maaser, the declaration that one had observed the halachic requirements of mitzvos connected with tithing one’s produce. “I have removed all the consecrated food from the house, I have given to the Levi, the stranger, the orphan and the widow….I have not transgressed Your…
Nissan is commonly known as the month of redemption, but the Gemoro in Rosh Hashono (11a) brings another opinion that Tishrei is the month of redemption. This seems to be confirmed by the tefila on Rosh Hashono in which we plead with Hashem, “Ten pachdecho Hashem Elokeinu al kol maasecho” – Put fear of You…
The best-known section of Ki Sovo is the Tochacha – warning us what will happen if we do not keep the mitzvos of the Torah. The low voice of the Baal Koreh hints to our trepidation of the fulfilment of the prophecies, many of which we have already witnessed. It would appear to be a…
A joyous atmosphere pervaded the Beis Hamedrash recently at an unusual, almost unique simcha – a triple bris of three quadruplets, the fourth being a little girl. Of particular interest to the erudite tzibbur who attended, was how many brochos would be said. Would the mohel and the father say one brocho on all three…