Halakhah leMosheh miSinai
מעשה ברבי ישבב שעמד והחליק את כל נכסיו לעניים. שלח לו ר”ג, “והלא אמרו חומש מנכסיו למצות?” ור”ג לא קודם לאושא היה? ר’ יוסי בר’ בון בשם ר’ לוי: כך היתה הלכה בידם, ושכחוה,...
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Qorach’s Heart
The title verse of this week’s parashah reads “ויקח קרח” (Bamidbar 16:39). The simple translation would be “And Qorach took”. However, the Midrash Rabbah takes it slightly differently, using an equally valid if less...
How Does Prayer Influence?
As a memorial to R’ Mordechai Eliyahuzt”l, here is a translation of the introduction to his siddur, “Sefatei Tiftach”: How Does Prayer Influence? One must read well the verses that speak about the creation...
The Pashkevil To End All Pashkevilin
R’ Yaakov Haber put this up at his blog, and I think it SO warrants further distribution, I’m mentioning it here. To quote: … [E]veryday there were posters about how, in the opinion of...
The Time of the Ivrim
Note this map of Israel, as it was divided into the territories for the various shevatim: There are two things odd about the south-west corner of the map. First, the Gaza Strip is not...
Two Ideals
(Split off from last week’s post “Shavuos Reading” because I thought of a number of points I wanted to add.) Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, in the Naso 5770 issue of his weekly Parashah Sheet...
Shavuos Reading
I just wanted to share some of what I came across this Shavuos… 1- From YU’s “Shavuos-to-Go”, R’ Mordechai Torczyner writes about the connection between Shavuos and chessed. Often cited is the idea that...
Yom Yerushalayim
“זְכֹ֤ר ה’֨ ׀ לִבְנֵ֬י אֱד֗וֹם אֵת֮ י֤וֹם יְֽרוּשָׁ֫לִָ֥ם …— Hashem, remind the children of Edom of the Day of Jerusalem…” – Tehillim 137:7 It seems odd to me, but this is the oldest source...
Building Anew
65 years before was the holocaust — one third of our people killed. When we left Egypt, we were led through the desert by a pillar of fire by day, and a pillar of...
Backgammon
The following is probably fiction, but is certainly possible. Picture a salt truck in February 2008, running down a Manhattan street, its mechanism scattering salt behind it. One particular piece of salt is sprayed...