Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Vayera And they said to him: "Where is your wife, Sarah?" And he said: "Here she is in the tent." (Bereishit 18:9) And they said to him: . There are dots over the letters alef yod vav in the word eylav. And we learned: Rabbi Simeon the son of Eleazar says: "Wherever the letters are more than the dotted ones, you must expound on the letters, etc." And here, the dotted letters are...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Lech-Lecha Rise, walk in the land, to its length and to its breadth, for I will give it to you. (Bereishit 13:17) Now it was about that time that Judah went down… (Bereishit 38:1) This is the meaning of what is written: A dispossessor will I bring to you who dwell in Mareshah (Micah 1:15). The Holy One said to Israel: I concluded with Abraham your father and told him, Rise, walk in the...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Noah Two by two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. (Bereishit 7:9) Two by two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. It seems proper to interpret God's commanding that two from each simply referring to the ingrained nature of animals, for nature is also called God. They came to...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Simhat Tora The Torah that Moses commanded us is a legacy for the congregation of Jacob. (Devarim 33:4) And it can be said that the word moreshet – "legacy" – refers to the Land of Israel, and then the verse's meaning will be that it is thanks to the Torah commanded to us by Moses that the Land of which the Torah writes, and I will give it to you as a legacy, I am the Lord...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Sukkot And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the hadar tree, date palm fronds, a branch of a braided tree, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for a seven day period. (Vayikra 23:40) My son, I already wrote to you several times about the preceding matter, that a person is affected by his habitual behavior, and his ideas and all his thoughts are...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Yom Kippur Like the anchor in the sailor's hand; If it pleases him, he holds it, If it pleases him, he casts it away. So too are we in Your hand, Good and forgiving God. Look to the covenant and take no notice of the evil inclination. (From the service for Yom Kippur eve) As this potter can I not do to you, O house of Israel? says the Lord. Behold, as clay in...
Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Rosh Hashana – Parshat Ha'azinu May we and all Your people, the House of Israel be remembered and inscribed before You for good life and peace In the Book of Blessing, Peace, and Good Livelihood. (From the High Holy Days Amida prayer) Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta said: The Holy One, blessed be He, found no vessel that could preserve Blessings for Israel, save peace, for it is said: The Lord grant His people strength, the Lord bless...