Ki Savo 5751Volume 15 · Issue 3

Paradoxical Trajectory

The sages and the earlier commentators (cf. Rabbeinu Nissim to Rosh Hashanah 16a) identify Rosh Hashanah as the start of the rebuilding. It begins the course of the Ten Days of Repentance that culminates on Yom Kippur. It is when all that had been destroyed begins to be built anew.

In On the Torah V · Chapter 186View Sefer

Bamidbar 5752Volume 15 · Issue 31

Engraved Portion

The dimension of the letter Yud is internal and transcendent. It expresses the thought of the future. And with it, God created the World to Come, which comes in the future, after This World (cf. Rambam Hilchos Teshuvah 8:8). It is what we aspire and where we are headed, the tomorrow when we reap our reward. Hence, the parts of This World that are beyond the system of our world and a semblance of the future

In On the Torah IV · Chapter 132View Sefer

Naso 5752Volume 15 · Issue 32

Transience to Permanence

The Rambam explains that it is called the World to Come because it develops from, and hence comes after, This World (Hilchos Teshuvah 8:8). It is not That World. The word “that” applies to what already exists and its application here would be false. It is the World to Come after This World. It is the world of reward, and tomorrow

Nitzavim 5751Volume 15 · Issue 4

Gifts for the Poor

The Rambam states (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:1-2), “Every human being has merits and sins. He whose merits exceed his sins is righteous. He whose sins exceed his merits is wicked. If they are equal, he is of intermediate status. The same applies

Devarim 5752Volume 15 · Issue 40

Betrothed With Faith

The Rambam writes (Hilchos Taaniyos 5:1-3), “There are days when all of Israel fasts because of the tragedies that occurred on them—to awaken the hearts and to open the paths of repentance. Let this serve as a reminder of our evil deeds and the deeds of our ancestors, which were similar to our current deeds, until their deeds caused those tragedies to befall them and us, because by remembering those tragedies, we will return

Vayeira 5752Volume 15 · Issue 8

Prayer of Royalty

happened there. We can overturn it as the sages tell us of the prophecy, “Another forty days, and Nineveh shall be overturned” (Yonah 3:4; Rashi), which was fulfilled by the overturning of their hearts in repentance.

Chayei Sarah 5752Volume 15 · Issue 9

Revelation Perception Connection

that never existed. In the phraseology of our Pleas for Pardon, “They are the ones who grant the title of prophet to one who has never prophesized (Selichos for the third day of the Ten Days of Repentance).

Vayechi 5754Volume 16 · Issue 14

Tenth of the Tenth

…ragedies that occurred on them—to awaken the hearts and to open the pathways of repentance. And this,” meaning these days, “will commemorate our evil deeds and the deeds of our ancestors, which were like our current deeds, until their…

Tetzaveh-Zachor 5754Volume 16 · Issue 21

From Death to Birth

True, if we receive the proper striking, it will be revealed, as the Talmud concludes, “God will establish a king as harsh as Haman and Israel will repent and they will be redeemed at once” (Sanhedrin 97b; Hilchos Teshuvah 7:5).

Pekudei-HaChodesh 5754Volume 16 · Issue 23

Time of Miracles

causal system, another rhythm of time. Things are prepared in other areas, in other places altogether. Rain is prepared in the study hall, and a good harvest is prepared on Rosh Hashanah, during the Ten Days of Repentance, in the synagogue. Time functions in a different order of cause and effect. It is another realm entirely.

Tazri'a Metzora 5754Volume 16 · Issue 24

Nothing Else

“Now, there is no stipulation of repentance and Divine Service in this song. Instead, it is a testimonial document that we would commit these evils and prevail,” we would succeed for some time, “but the Creator would act against us with admonitions of rage. Nonetheless, He will never

In On the Torah V · Chapter 192View Sefer

Shoftim 5754Volume 17 · Issue 1

Cosmic Shift

shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a Biblical decree, it contains an allusion, as if to say, “Awake from your sleep, you who sleep, and arise from your slumber, you who slumber. Search your deeds, and return with repentance and remember your Creator.”

Ki Seitzei 5754Volume 17 · Issue 2

Head of the Year

The Maharal in his discourse for the Sabbath of Repentance (72b) finds this concept in the Hebrew word for king, melech, which is the reverse of kulam, all of them. In other words, the king faces all of them and bears all of them within him as a single body

In On the Torah V · Chapter 189View Sefer

Acharei-Kedoshim 5756Volume 17 · Issue 25

Creates and Governs

dipped the cloak of Yosef in the blood of a goat to convince their father of his death (Bereshis 37:31). And blood is sprinkled on the altar and it appeases and atones for man (cf. Maharal Derush LeShabbos Teshuvah 82b).

Bamidbar 5756Volume 17 · Issue 27

The Day of Assembly

As the Talmud explains (ibid. 90b) and the Rambam at length (Hilchos Teshuvah 8:1), extirpation severs one from this reality. “Severed shall that soul be severed, his sin within him” (Bamidbar 15:31). The doubled wording teaches that he is severed in This World and in the World to Come.

Behaaloscha 5756Volume 17 · Issue 28

Clear World

The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 6:5) answers that the decree was upon the nation—the land not theirs is the Egyptian Empire. There, the decree of enslavement and affliction had to be fulfilled. But the decree upon the nation does not affect the individual

Korach 5756Volume 17 · Issue 30

Miracle of Necessity

Sabbath, “and Cain rose up against his brother Hevel and killed him” (Bereshis 4:8; cf. Shabbos 119a). When he told Adam, “I repented and I was reconciled,” he said, “So great is the power of repentance,” and declared, “A chant song for the Sabbath day—it is good to confess to God” (Tehillim 92:1; Bereshis Rabbah 22:13). This was on the very first Sabbath.

Chukas 5756Volume 17 · Issue 31

Reason of Reasons

In essence, the Rambam addresses this (Hilchos Teshuvah 8:8). He asks why it is called the World to Come and explains that its very concept is that it comes after what is present. That World would signify that it is something else, which is untrue

Mishpatim 5757Volume 18 · Issue 20

Mysteries of the Universe

As we know, the World to Come must be created from This World. The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 8:8) explains that this is why it is called the World to Come. Grammatically, the contrast to this is that, as in (Shemos 22:8), “That is this,” and the contrast to This World should have been That World

Vayeira 5757Volume 18 · Issue 8

Three Inversions

…not nullified. It was fulfilled through the overturning of their hearts in repentance. This too is inversion. In like manner, we pray for the same inversion to happen swiftly in our days, and we will find fulfillment of…