L’horos b’yom ha’tamei uv’yom ha’tahor zos toras ha’tzara’as (14:57) A doctor in Jerusalem once approached the Tzitz Eliezer, Rav Eliezer Waldenberg, with an interesting legal question. As part of his medical training, he took the Hippocratic oath, in which a doctor swears to practice medicine ethically and to focus his professional efforts on the well-being of [...]

Adam ki yihyeh b’or besaro se’eis o sapachas o baheres v’haya b’or besaro l’negah tzara’as v’huva el Aharon HaKohen o el echad mibanav (13:2) Parshas Tazria discusses the laws governing an “adam” (person) who has tzara’as on his skin. The Zohar HaKadosh teaches that of the many Hebrew words which refer to a person, the word [...]

Vateitzei aish milifnei Hashem vatochal osam vayamusu lifnei Hashem (10:2) The Gemora in Sanhedrin (52a) teaches that while Moshe and Aharon were leading the way at Mount Sinai, Nadav and Avihu followed behind them and wondered aloud to one another when Moshe and Aharon might die so that they could assume the mantle of leadership. Hashem [...]

Vaya’as Aharon u’banav es kol ha’devorim asher tziva Hashem b’yad Moshe (8:36)             After discussing more of the laws governing the various offerings, Parshas Tzav turns its attention to the inauguration of the Kohanim. It relates at length the procedure by which Aharon and his sons were consecrated to serve as Kohanim. After relating all of [...]

Vaya’as Aharon u’banav es kol ha’devorim asher tziva Hashem b’yad Moshe (8:36)             After discussing more of the laws governing the various offerings, Parshas Tzav turns its attention to the inauguration of the Kohanim. It relates at length the procedure by which Aharon and his sons were consecrated to serve as Kohanim. After relating all of [...]

Adam ki yakriv mi’kem korban l’Hashem (1:2) In the times of the Beis HaMikdash, a person who sinned at least had the comfort of knowing that he could bring a sacrifice to complete the atonement process prescribed by the Torah. In the absence of this option, how can a contemporary person fully repent and cleanse the [...]

Eileh pekudei haMishkan Mishkan ha’eidus (38:21) Rashi explains that the repetition of the word “Mishkan” alludes to the fact that the Temple was taken from us by Hashem as collateral (mashkon) for our sins. However, regarding a human creditor, the law is (22:25) that if he takes an object from the borrower, such as an item [...]

Vayeitz’u kol adas B’nei Yisroel mi’lifnei Moshe (35:20) Parshas Vayakhel begins by relating that Moshe gathered together all of the Jews to instruct them about observing Shabbos and building the Mishkan. Nineteen verses later, after he concluded his instructions, the Torah relates that the Jews left “from in front of Moshe.” As the Torah doesn’t write [...]

V’atah kach lecha besamim rosh mar deror chamesh me’os (30:23) When the Megillah first introduces us to Mordechai, it tells us not only his name, but the names of several of his ancestors, recording that he was Mordechai the son of Yair, who was the son of Shimi, who was the son of Kish (Esther 2:5). [...]

V’atah Tetzaveh (27:20) The Baal HaTurim points out that from the birth of Moshe in Parshas Shemos until his death in Parshas V’Zos HaBeracha, this week’s parsha is the only one (except for a few parshios in Sefer Devorim, in which Moshe speaks in the first-person) in which his name isn’t mentioned a single time. He [...]