Nitzavim-Vayelech 5753Volume 16 · Issue 4

Cast into the Depths of the Sea

The sages in the aforementioned passage reveal that the curses of Ki Savo are discussing the last generation—ours. It is well known from the Vilna Gaon—cited in Emunah VeHashgachah by Rabbi Yitzchak Meltzan in the name of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin who heard it from him—that each century of the sixth millennium corresponds to one portion in the Book of Devarim (Derushim VeLikutim page 139). Currently

In On the Torah V · Chapter 191View Sefer

Lech Lecha 5754Volume 16 · Issue 6

Journey of Blessing

This precisely is our test. We are the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Our own feet stood at Mount Sinai, and we accepted the Torah. We know with absolute faith that the Creator is the One Who is guiding the world to its destiny—and its destiny is as He revealed to us in His Torah. Everything is unfolding precisely so before our very eyes—even all the tragedies, even

In On the Torah I · Chapter 17View Sefer

Toldos 5756Volume 17 · Issue 10

Delivered from Hatred

Where is all this headed? What is meant to happen? Where is the next station? We indeed have absolute faith that the Creator is driving all this and He is leading it all to the good. He is leading it all in one direction toward the revelation of His Kingship. But what is the process? It is prudent to study

In On the Torah I · Chapter 15View Sefer

Acharei-Kedoshim 5756Volume 17 · Issue 25

Creates and Governs

know, the Creator governs the world with two diverse forms of governance. At times, He acts as the One Who creates, and at times, He acts as the One Who governs. Of this, we say, “I believe with absolute faith that the Creator, blessed be His Name, creates and governs all creations.”

Behaaloscha 5756Volume 17 · Issue 28

Clear World

“He explains to us further that even those scholars and men of understanding, who have undergone misfortunes and stood strong against them, and who remained steadfast in their faith in God and His servant Moshe, will yet undergo harsher and worse misfortunes, more than the first ones they withstood, until doubt will be introduced even to them, and they too will err and stray, until only very few will remain

Vayeishev 5757Volume 18 · Issue 12

In Praise and Thanks

When there was prophecy in the world, the Creator was present—He spoke to people. In such a world, denial of faith was not an option. “How can the living contradict the living” (Berachos 27b)?

Miketz Chanukah 5757Volume 18 · Issue 13

This is Chanukah

For us, the limitation of our senses, especially in the darkened world after prophecy, caused us to delve deeper, to acknowledge the higher source of wisdom, and to have faith in God’s exclusivity. This is the definition of Oneness. Existence is God, and our existence is given to us from Him (Rambam Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 1:2).

Vayechi 5757Volume 18 · Issue 15

Fierce Anticipation

tidings will call for the blessing of the Good One Who bestows goodness. We will perceive with absolute clarity, “All that the Merciful One does is for the good” (Berachos 60b). It will no longer be a matter of faith, “It essentially is good.” The very act previously seen as bad will be seen as good. The bad will warrant, in actuality, the blessing of the Good One Who bestows goodness.

Naso 5757Volume 18 · Issue 32

Song of the Soul

In the work Emunah UBitachon (chapter 21) ascribed to the authorship of the Ramban, I discovered a truly wondrous insight (Kisvei HaRamban 2:425).

Chukas 5757Volume 18 · Issue 35

Worlds of Words

In essence, when we speak improperly, we impinge upon the primary intent of creation. As the Ramban famously writes (Shemos 13:16), “The Most High has no desire in us except for us to have faith in Him and concede to the Lord that He created us.” We were created as autonomous beings so that we may concede on our own where the truth is, where true existence is, and to whom everything belongs

Pinchas 5757Volume 18 · Issue 37

Eternal Hope

Sanhedrin 90a), “All of Israel has a share for the World to Come.” But the Mishnah continues with those who have no share, beginning with one who denies the Enlivening of the Dead. In other words, he has no faith in the foregoing.

Devarim 5757Volume 18 · Issue 39

Never Forgotten

If proof were needed, consider our fear of Heaven. We have faith, certainly enough to be concerned of retribution. And the slightest chance of its truth is cause for extreme fear. Yet the fact is we have no fear. But it is not because we are certain there is no chance

Vaeira 5758Volume 19 · Issue 16

All That Glitters

The foundational principle essential to our faith is that the entire realm of evil from beginning to end self-destructs. It needs no outside cause. It burns bright but it flashes. “It arrives overnight and perishes overnight” (Yonah 4:10).

Emor 5758Volume 19 · Issue 25

Light of the World

This point is critical. To stumble in this is to stumble in blasphemy, as the Talmud states. And blasphemy means denying the essence of faith.

Ki Savo 5757Volume 19 · Issue 3

Covenantal Eternality

think there is any solution other than the one stated here in the Torah. This is our situation. We exist within the words of the covenant. We are yet in the portions of Ki Savo and Nitzavim (cf. Emunah VeHashgachah by Rabbi Yitzchak Meltzan). This covenant introduced the concept that the curse is not a curse but a covenant, bris. We have no other existence except in the covenant. This is where we live.

Behaaloscha 5758Volume 19 · Issue 30

Indirect Route

And it will always continue to grow and ascend higher and higher with no limit and no end. This lies in the world’s very existence. It is the foundation of our faith.

Devarim 5758Volume 19 · Issue 35

Heartened

This is where the mitzvah of yearning for deliverance is stated. The mitzvah is to have faith that He has delivered us from Egypt and He will likewise deliver us in the future.

Yom Kippur 5758Volume 19 · Issue 5

Kiss of Purity

Let us add a parenthetical remark. We see before us colossal realms with seemingly limitless power. Yet we must have faith that it can all be negated in the blink of an eye. And we find it hard to grasp. It simply seems unfeasible. It should take time for such fearsome vitality to disappear.

Behar 5765Volume 1 · Issue 11

Counting the Omer

will increase it. And although the harvest already exists, it is not a prayer in vain (cf. Berachos 54a). True, He does not necessarily answer every prayer immediately, but it is a strong possibility, and apparently, one must have faith that its measure after he prayed is more than it was before he prayed. It can never be proven, for the increase does not noticeably swell the harvest, but within the hidden realm, the blessing applies.

In Omer & Shavuos · Chapter 3View Sefer

Chukas 5765Volume 1 · Issue 18

Torah: Engraved Upon Our Hearts

Only for this reason is the resurrection a remote concept. Of renewal, examples abound, but the anticipated resurrection, the ultimate overpowering of death altogether, bears no example. We have faith in it, but we do not live it; it is beyond us. Our clear perception is not of life to those that are dead but of death to those that are alive. Death is close to us. We live

In On the Torah V · Chapter 158View Sefer