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Bribery
This past week I learned a piece in Or haTzafun (Shemos #30 “ההשתתפות שבין אדם לחבירו”) which focuses on the insidious nature of bribery, and from there, negi’os in general. … But I was thinking… It could be that tzadiqim are more vulnerable to bribery. Because bribery as a motivator has another element.
Compassionate Moshe
והיה רגיל להוכיח אותי על שראה שאינני משתתף בצערא דאחרינא. וכה היה דברו אלי תמיד שזה כל האדם. לא לעצמו נברא רק להועיל לאחריני ככל אשר ימצא בכחו לעשות. [My father, Rav Chaim Volozhiner,]...
Guest Post: An Introduction to Trop
Micha’s note: The following was a post written to the Mesorah email list by Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel zt”l, a rebbe-chaver of mine (more: a rebbe who insisted on treating me like a chaver)...
My Opinion on Abortion Legislation
Why should you care about my opinion about how Jews ought to respond to the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States? You shouldn’t. Here’s why. Halakhah prohibits abortion in most...
Pesel Mikhah
From Sanhedrin 103b: תניא רבי נתן אומר מגרב לשילה ג’ מילין והיה עשן המערכה ועשן פסל מיכה מתערבין זה בזה בקשו מלאכי השרת לדוחפו אמר להן הקב”ה הניחו לו שפתו מצויה לעוברי דרכים. A...
Pieces of Sapphire
In this week’s parasha (Shemos 34:1), when Hashem tells Moshe to carve the second luchos, He says “פסל לך – carve for yourself”. The gemara comments on the apparently superfluous “לך – for yourself”...
Why mitzvos?
The following question appeared in the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook: I answered the following, looking less at the question of anything innately about Jews, and more about why Judaism takes work that...
Rav Yisrael, Epidemics, and Priorities
On the topic of people insisting on maintaining risky behaviors during the corona pandemic… Too many of us are placing minyan, attending weddings or funerals, and other such mitzvos ahead of safety. Despite the...