“See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse” (Deuteronomy 11:26). 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. The Kotzker Rebbe was fond… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 11:26 – A BLESSING AND A CURSE
“I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands and broke them in your sight” (Deuteronomy 9:17). According to the Talmud, the broken pieces of the shattered tablets were gathered up and placed in the ark along with the new tablets that replaced them (Berachos… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 9:17 – LESSONS FROM BROKEN EXPERIENCES
· “Now, O Israel, what is Hashem, your G-d asking of you? Merely to fear Hashem your G-d, to follow in all His ways, to love Him and to serve Hashem your G-d wholeheartedly and with your entire being” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The Talmud (Berachos 33b) asks: Is fear of G-d… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 10:12 – FEAR OF HASHEM
“You have been defiant with G-d…” (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 – they exploit and distort G-d for their… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 9:24 – DEFIANT
“Hear O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). 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 Hashem our G-d: Hashem is… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 6:4 – LISTEN UP
“From there you shall seek Hashem your G-d and you will find Him, but you must search for Him with all your heart and all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29). The Kotzker Rebbe taught that even after you have found Hashem, you must continue to seek Him wholeheartedly. This is because… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 4:29 – CONTINUE TO SEEK
“When you slaughter an offering to Hashem, you shall slaughter it to find favor for yourselves.” (Leviticus 19:5) How can we bring an offering to Hashem now, when there is no Holy Temple? The Karliner Rebbe explained that the literal meaning of the Hebrew in the last phrase of this… Read More »LEVITICUS 19:5 – THE WILL TO OFFER
“These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan in the desert, in the Aravah, opposite Suf, between Parran, Tofel, Lavan, Chatzeros and Di Zahav” (Deuteronomy 1:1). In explaining the significance of these places, Rashi writes that Chatzeros refers to the controversy of… Read More »DEUTERONOMY 1:1 – THE ORDER OF EVENTS
“…you shall provide for yourselves six cities of refuge. Three cities on the other side of the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan…” (Numbers 35:13-14) The Talmud (Makkos 9b) wonders why the two and a half tribes living on the east side of the Jordan River needed… Read More »NUMBERS 35:13-14 – CITIES OF REFUGE
“And Moses wrote of their goings forth according to their journeys by the commandment of Hashem, And these are their journeys according to their goings forth” (Numbers 33:2). Why does the end of the verse reverse the order of ‘goings forth’ and ‘journeys’? According to the Maggid of Dubno, this… Read More »NUMBERS 33:2 – GOING FORTH
