????? ????? ??? ??? ??? ????? ?? ????? ?? ???? 21:11 The Gemora in Shabbos (130a) states that any mitzvah which was accepted by the Jewish people with happiness, such a circumcision, is still performed to the present day with gladness, but any mitzvah which was accepted with fighting – such as forbidden relationships – is [...]

V’kol ha’am yishme’u v’yira’u v’lo yezidun od (17:13) When a person is convicted of a capital crime, the execution is carried out in a public manner. Rashi writes that the Sanhedrin waited to carry out the execution until the next Yom Tov, when people would travel to Yerushalayim to fulfill the mitzvah of aliyah l’regel (ascending [...]

Ki y’sis’cha … leimor neil’cha v’naavda elohim acheirim … lo so’veh lo v’lo sish’ma eilav v’lo ta’chos ein’cha alav v’lo sach’mol v’lo t’chaseh alav … ki harog tahar’genu … u’skalto ba’avanim va’meis ki bikeish l’hadich’cha me’al Hashem Elokecha (13:7-11) The Torah is stricter regarding the treatment of the ???? – inciter – than it is with [...]

Ki ha’aretz asher atah ba shamah l’rishtah lo k’eretz Mitzrayim hu asher y’tzasem misham asher tizra es zarecha v’hishkisa b’raglecha k’gan hayarek v’ha’aretz asher atem ovrim shama l’rishtah eretz harim uv’kaos lim’tar haShomayim tishteh mayim (11:10-11) Moshe stressed to the Jewish people that the land of Israel would be different than the land of Egypt from [...]

Hashem Elokei avoseichem yosef Aleichem kachem elef pe’amim (1:11) In the middle of his rebuke of the Jewish nation, Moshe blessed them that Hashem should increase their population 1000-fold. The Medrash (Devorim Rabbah 1:11) cryptically comments that our verse is what Dovid HaMelech had in mind when he wrote (Tehillim 5:8) åàðé áøá çñãê àáåà áéúê [...]

V’hikrisem lachem arim arei miklat tih’yena lachem v’nas shama rotzeach makeh nefesh bishgaga (35:11) A man once traveled from Israel to Europe to collect money for the poverty-stricken yeshivos of Yerushalayim. Unfortunately, try as he might, his efforts at collecting were largely unsuccessful. Disappointing as it was, he was willing to accept Hashem’s decree. However, upon [...]

Ish ki yidor neder l’Hashem (30:3) Parshas Mattos begins with the laws governing oaths and vows. The concept of taking a vow to Hashem is a difficult one to understand. The Shelah HaKadosh writes that if a person wants to understand the true significance of any idea, he should examine its meaning in the first place [...]

Pinchas ben Elozar ben Aharon HaKohen (25:11) At the end of last week’s parsha, the Jewish people began to sin with the non-Jewish Midianites. Even Zimri, the leader of the tribe of Shimon, was caught up in transgressing. Anxious to stem the spread of the sin, Aharon’s grandson Pinchas publicly killed Zimri. Rashi writes that the [...]

 Dabeir el B’nei Yisroel v’yikchu aleicha parah adumah temimah (19:2) The Gemora in Kiddushin (31a) relates the tremendous dedication of a non-Jew named Dama ben Nesina to the mitzvah of honoring his parents. The Sages once came to him to purchase something for a tremendous amount of money, but the key needed to access it was [...]

Vayakumu lifnei Moshe v’anashim mi’Bnei Yisroel chamishim umasayim nesi’ei eida kriei moed anshei shem (16:2) Parshas Korach begins with the tragic revolt led by Korach against Moshe and Aharon in which he questions their claims of being Divinely-chosen in an attempt to overthrow their leadership. Korach was joined in his rebellion by Dasan, Aviram, and 250 [...]