Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Toldot WHEN THE BOYS GREW UP, ESAU BECAME A SKILLFUL HUNTER, A MAN OF THE OUTDOORS; BUT JACOB WAS A MILD MAN, WHO STAYED IN CAMP. I SAAC FAVORED ESAU BECAUSE HE HAD A TASTE FOR GAME; REBEKAH LOVED JACOB. (Bereishit 25) When love is conditional upon a cause, when that cause ends, so does the love. Unconditional love is everlasting. (Pirkei Avot 5: 16) "Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Chaye Sara AND THE SERVANT SAID TO HIM, "WHAT IF THE WOMAN DOES NOT CONSENT TO FOLLOW ME TO THIS LAND, SHALL I THEN TAKE YOUR SON BACK TO THE LAND FROM WHICH YOU CAME?" ABRAHAM ANSWERED HIM, "ON NO ACCOUNT MUST YOU TAKE MY SON BACK THERE!" (Bereishit 24:5,6) Why Did Abraham Object So Strongly to the Canaanite Women? "From the Daughters of the Canaanites" – Lest they say I entered the land...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Vayera NOW GOD APPEARED TO HIM BY THE OAKS OF MAMRE AS HE WAS SITTING AT THE ENTRANCE TO HIS TENT AT THE HEAT OF THE DAY. "Appeared to him" – to visit the sick. Said R' Chamma bar Chaninah: It was the third day since his circumcision, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, came to inquire as to his welfare. (Rashi Bereishit 18:1) You Shall Walk in His Ways Said R' Chamma...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Lech-Lecha THE LORD SAID TO AVRAM: GO YOU FORTH FROM YOUR LAND FROM YOUR KINDRED FROM YOUR FATHER'S HOME TO THE LAND THAT I WILL LET YOU SEE (Bereishit 12:1) "Go You Forth" – For Your Own Sake … At Judaism's inception, it is written, "Lech lecha", go for your own sake. This is an even greater merit. No man has the right to say: I am righteous and honest in keeping with...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Noah BUT GOD CAME DOWN TO LOOK OVER THE CITY AND THE TOWER THAT THE HUMANS WERE BUILDING. (Bereishit 11:5) One Language? One Set of Words? When they expressed this intention ("and let us make ourselves a name") God fully understood their intention and well knew that their end would be the opposite of what they thought. On the contrary, there exists the possibility of a unified nation. When? When a people is...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Bereishit THE LORD GOD CALLED TO THE HUMAN AND SAID TO HIM; WHERE ARE YOU? HE SAID: I HEARD THE SOUND OF YOU IN THE GARDEN AND I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I AM NUDE, AND SO I HID MYSELF. HE SAID: WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE NUDE? FROM THE TREE ABOUT WHICH I COMMAND YOU NOT TO EAT, HAVE YOU EATEN? THE HUMAN SAID: THE WOMAN WHOM YOU GAVE TO BE BESIDE ME, SHE...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Simhat Tora "… WHO HAS KEPT US ALIVE, AND SUSTAINED US THROUGH OUR PURE AWE OF HIM, AND HAS BROUGHT US TO REJOICE IN THE REJOICING OF THE TORAH THAT CHEERS THE HEART AND ENLIGHTENS THE EYES, BRINGS HAPPINESS TO THOSE WHO WALK IN THE GOOD AND RIGHT PATH, LENGTHENS DAYS AND ADDS STRENGTH TO THOSE WHO LOVE IT AND OBSERVE IT— ITS COMMANDS AND ITS WARNINGS— TO THOSE WHO ENGAGE IN TORAH AND GUARD IT...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot IN HUTS YOU ARE TO STAY FOR SEVEN DAYS, EVERY NATIVE IN ISRAEL IS TO STAY IN HUTS- IN ORDER THAT YOUR GENERATIONS MAY KNOW THAT IN HUTS I HAD THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL STAY WHEN I BROUGHT THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD! (Vayikra 23:42-43) Transience and Lack of Acquisitiveness as Expressions of Faith The mitzvah of Sukkah requires a temporary dwelling (Sukkah 2a). The author...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Ha'azinu INDEED, AT A DISTANCE YOU SHALL SEE THE LAND, BUT THERE YOU SHALL NOT ENTER, THE LAND THAT I AM GIVING TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (Devarim 32:52) "Indeed, at a distance you shall see the land, but there you shall not come" – Here is written "but there you shall not come"; but further on it is written "but there you shall not cross". It cannot say "there you shall not come", for...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Rosh Hashana At four periods the world is judged; on Pesach – for the grains, on Shavuot – for the fruits of the trees, on Rosh Hashanah all who came into the world pass before Him as sheep, as is written (Psalms 33) "He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings," and on Sukkoth they are judged for water. (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:2) Only the God of Thoughts Can Evaluate...