Family Restoration Johanan Flusser I wish to dedicate this dvar torah in memory of my mother, Chana Flusser who passed away on the eighth day of Hanukkah 5773 having lit the eighth candle the previous evening The story of Joseph and his brothers includes two statements made by Joseph that constitute a powerful description of his relationship with his brothers. In the first statement, "I am looking for my brothers", Joseph expresses a longing and a strong desire to find his brothers in all respects. This statement received deep meaning and resonance in the actions taken on behalf...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Yom Kippur "And for the sin we committed against thee of tale bearing" (From the prayer of confession on the Day of Atonement) "Thou shall not go about as a talebearer" "Do not stand idly over the blood of your neighbor. I am the Lord". (Leviticus 19:17) "Thou shall not go about as a talebearer" It is my opinion that it is because all inciters of quarrel and those that relate evil talk "go" into the house of their friends...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Toldot When the words of her oldest son Esau were reported to Rebecca, she sent her youngest son Jacob and said to him: Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. Now my son, listen to me. Flee at once to Haran, to my brother Laban. (Genesis, 27:42-43) …Were reported to her… The Holy Spirit reported what Esau was planning in his heart. …Consoling himself… was consoled by the brotherhood between them. Otherwise he would have been...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Chaye Sara And the maiden was very beautiful, a virgin whom no man had known. She went down to the stream, filled her jug, and came up. (Breishit 24:16) And the maiden was very beautiful… There are three reasons why the servant chose her from the others. 1. She was more beautiful than the others he saw there. 2. "And she was a virgin whom no man had known" – When he observed her, he saw she had no interest...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayera "Thus the two daughters of Lot came to be with child by their father." (Breishit 19:36) "They had not yet lain down, when the townspeople… shouted to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men?'" We learn from here that when Lot separated from Abraham and settled near the Jordan River, he was heading towards Sodom. Lot saw that they were participants in sexual deviations and he chose to act as they did. How do we know this?...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Lech-Lecha Abraham took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired; and they set out for the land of Canaan. (Breishit, 12:5) And his brother's son Lot, because he followed Abraham and went with him. They had amassed – he and Lot together amassed money and other possessions. And the persons that they had acquired in Haran, the servants and maids that they acquired in...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Noah They came to Noah into the ark, two each of all flesh in which there was a breath of life. (Noach 7:15) They came. It is a miracle that they all came to Noah, as most animals flee from man and flee from enclosures and love freedom. It is also a miracle that only two of each species came and not more, and that all the species came and none were missing. (Malbim, ibid) Man is revealed here...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Simhat Tora – Parshat Bereishit And from the ground the lord god caused to grow Every tree that was pleasing to the sight And good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the Garden and the tree of knowledge of good and bad (Bereishit 2:9) And from the ground his nourishment would come easy; Pleasing to the sight makes him happy and broadens his heart to prepare him for the abundance of knowledge he is about to...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot "You shall live in booths seven days; All the citizens of Israel shall live in booths" (Leviticus 23:42) The citizens – that is citizens. Of Israel – including sojourners, (Rashi, ibid). This excludes women from time-bound mitzvot but does include sojourners and freed slaves. The literal translation, according to the Kabala, alludes to "One law shall you have for sojourners and citizens of the land." (Numbers 9:14) "All the dwellers in Canaan are aghast," (Numbers 13:5). So that it...
SHABBAT SHALOM (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Rosh Hashana – Parshat Ha'azinu "May my mission upon which i am embarking be successful" (From the Meditation of the Shaliach Tzibur before Musaf) "Do not be quick with your mouth; do not be hasty with your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. " (Eccl 5:1) Ibn Ezra delineates the proper way to worship God, in his eyes. Firstly, Man should have a permanent place...