8 Elul 5783 – 25 August 2023 “Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother; do not despise an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land” Based upon this verse, the Talmud teaches: Do not throw a stone into the well from which you drank (Baba… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 23:8 – A STONE INTO THE WELL
28 Av 5783 – 15 August 2023 “Everything that I am commanding you – be careful to fulfill it; do not add to it and do not subtract from it” Why does the Torah seem to repeat here what had been written previously in 4:2 “Do not add to the… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 13:1 – DO OT ADD
23 Av 5783 – 10 August 2023 “After Hashem, your G-d you shall follow…and cleave to Him” There are two Hebrew words that can mean ‘after’. One is ‘achar’ and the other is ‘acharei’. In his commentary to Genesis 15:1, Rashi explains that achar implies proximity, where one event follows… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 13:5 – FOLLOW G-D FROM A DISTANCE?
22 Av 5783 – 9 August 2023 “For my sin I admit, I worry about my transgression.” The Book of Psalms, indeed, the Bible often uses parallelism – the same idea is expressed in two ways. This is how this verse is usually understood. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov took it… Read More »Psalm 38:19 – I Worry About My Transgression!
21 Av 5783 – 8 August 2023 “See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse” According to R’ Ovadiah Seforno, we are warned here against thinking there can be a middle ground in our spiritual lives. There are only the two extremes of either blessing or curse.… Read More »Deuteronomy 11:26 – The Middel Road is for…?
19 Av 5783 – 6 August 2023 “…cleave to Him”. There are many ways to attach ourselves to the Creator. Rashi teaches that one way is by connecting ourselves to Torah scholars. Our sages teach that something which is attached to that which is (ritually) pure has the status of… Read More »Deuteronomy 11:22 – Cleave to Him
17 Av 5783 – 4 August 2023 “I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands and broke them in your sight” According to the Talmud, the broken pieces of the shattered tablets were gathered up and placed in the ark along with the new… Read More »Deuteronomy 9:17 – Learning from Mistakes
16 Av 5783 – 3 August 2023 “…and you shall eat and be satiated and bless Hashem your G-d…” This is normally understood to mean that after we have eaten enough to feel satisfied; we should thank Hashem for the food. Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin offered a beautiful way of… Read More »Deuteronomy 8:10
15 Av 5783 – 2 August 2023 “You have been defiant with God…” (Deuteronomy 9:24). This is usually translated as ‘You have been defiant against G-d’. But R’ Menachem Mendel of Riminov notes that we should not ignore the literal meaning. There are those who are defiant WITH G-d –… Read More »Deuteronomy 9:24 – Defiant
13 Av 5783 – 31 July 2023 “Hear O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One!” This is a profound verse, and there may be other ways to parse the words. One possibility suggested by Rabbi Norman Lamm in his brilliant book on the Shema is: Hear O Israel… Read More »Deuteronomy 6:4 – Hashem is One!
