Vayigash 5757Volume 18 · Issue 14

Extinguished Light

The passage continues with a prayer. “I have strayed; I have transgressed. Let Him reveal to me His goodness—the One Who says to the sea, “Until here, you may come.” Due to the change of course that began in the month of Teves, the previous world

Mishpatim 5757Volume 18 · Issue 20

Mysteries of the Universe

Of this, we say in the prayer for the consecration of the moon, “And to the moon, He said that it should originate itself, a crown of splendor for the ones borne of the womb who are destined to be originated like it….” We are called here

Nitzavim-Vayelech 5756Volume 18 · Issue 3

Keeping the Covenant

…we are required to read the portion of Nitzavim before Rosh Hashanah (Hilchos Tefillah 13:2). Clearly, it is not simply to pause an extra week between the curses and the new year. For this, the reading of any portion would have…

Behaaloscha 5757Volume 18 · Issue 33

Hewed Pillars

Book of Creation says of the Sabbath (4:4). Briefly, all six weekdays, when everything is dispersed and spread out, are interconnected by the Sabbath. It brings them into the mystery of oneness (Zohar 2:135a; Sabbath Evening Prayer).

Pinchas 5757Volume 18 · Issue 37

Eternal Hope

The only exception is the blessing for houses of prayer and learning. Of them, it says (Tehillim 87:2), “God loves the gates of Zion more than all dwellings of Yaakov.” There alone, love remains, and there alone, blessing remains. God your Lord inverted for you the curse into blessing

Shoftim 5757Volume 19 · Issue 1

Origins of the Shofar

The Tur continues, “This is the custom in Ashkenaz—to sound the shofar throughout the month of Elul, morning and evening, after prayer.”

Vayigash 5758Volume 19 · Issue 14

Reaching Daylight

Hence, “I pray to you the entire day.” For us, the day of the nations, the clear organized system that seems real, is night. We transform it into prayer. It expresses our aspiration to reach the approaching day, which comes after night.

Shemos 5758Volume 19 · Issue 15

The Rod and the Snake

This miracle was the first one that God sent Moshe Rabbeinu to show to Israel, With it began what we say in our Evening Prayer, “He is the One Who performs for us miracles and vengeance against Pharaoh, signs and wonders in the land of the descendants of Hamm.”

Ki Seitzei 5757Volume 19 · Issue 2

The Shell of a Pomegranate

“Thus, when the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 27a) attributes our Rosh Hashanah prayer, “This day is the beginning of your works, the commemoration of the first day,” to Rabbi Eliezer, it is referring to the creation of man.” His creation is what is called the beginning of God’s works.

Vayakhel-Pekudei-Parah 5758Volume 19 · Issue 23

Purified for the Festival

This World and the World to Come are two worlds, two different realities, just as night and day are two different times, two separate creations. As we say in our Evening Prayer, “He creates day and He creates night,” and in the Morning Prayer, “He forms light and He creates darkness.”

Bamidbar 5758Volume 19 · Issue 28

Doubled Existence

We say this every day in our prayers, “Torah and commandments, laws and judgments, You have taught us.” And in the Musaf Prayer of Rosh Hashanah, we specify the Event of Mount Sinai, “When You, our King, were revealed on Mount Sinai to teach Your nation Torah and mitzvos.”

Naso 5758Volume 19 · Issue 29

Innumerable Number

Corresponding to his attribute, we say in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, “The Great Lord.” The root of greatness altogether, the catalyst to grow, to ascend, to become great, is the light he placed at the head of the world.

Shemos 5765Volume 1 · Issue 1

World of Desolation

Apparently, the meaning of two tears is similar to a famous Ashkenazic poem, which is recited as part of the supplications prior to Rosh Hashanah and in the closing prayer of Yom Kippur: “I recall, Lord, and I am stirred, when I see every city built on its ruins, and the city of the Lord lowered to the depths of the grave….” The poem ends, “Let it be Your will

In Exile & Exodus · Chapter 2View Sefer

Bamidbar 5765Volume 1 · Issue 13

Torah of Truth and Eternal Life

Every day of a week repeats its parallel in the days of creation, until the Sabbath, the purpose of creation of heaven and earth, and we refer to it as, “The concluding action of the original thought (Lechah Dodi Prayer).” On the following day, the world begins again, and again it reaches its destiny.

In Sabbath & Prayer · Chapter 6View Sefer

Yisro 5765Volume 1 · Issue 3

The Principle of Redemption

“Likewise, we say in the Sabbath Afternoon Prayer, “You are One and Your Name is One.” Meaning, ‘You are One’ from the aspect of His Self, and “Your Name is One” from the aspect of His creations, with a revealed Divine Name.

VaYikra-Zachor 5765Volume 1 · Issue 8

Amalek: Living in the Moment

Haman had a special agenda emphasized in the Megillah and the prayer of Al Hanissim—to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate the entire Jewish People… in a single day (Esther 3:13). What is the significance of a single day? What would be missing had he done so in two days

In Chanukah & Purim · Chapter 29View Sefer

Shemini-Parah 5765Volume 1 · Issue 9

Adar: The Nexus of Rebirth

The earlier commentators (Tosafos ibid. 27a KiMan) address the difficulty of the Rosh Hashanah prayer that states, “This day is the beginning of your works, a commemoration of the first day.” If the ruling is that creation occurred in Nisan, why do we refer to Rosh Hashanah, the first of Tishri, as the beginning

Shemos 5760Volume 20 · Issue 17

Voice of Balaam

We are obligated to eradicate idolatry and to pray for its eradication. In the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, we pray for all heretics to perish instantly. No matter the version, whether it mentions the wicked kingdom, the intent is the same. The intent is for the wicked kingdom to be uprooted, broken, and destroyed. “Blessed

Terumah 5760Volume 20 · Issue 21

Culmination of the Exodus

As we say in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, “He remembers the kindnesses of the Fathers and brings the redeemer to their grandchildren for the sake of His Name with love.”

VaYakhel-Shekalim 5760Volume 20 · Issue 24

Inextinguishable Love

In one answer of Tosafos (Berachos 49a), this is why there is no need to say King of the World in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, although a blessing is invalid without it. We say Lord of Avraham, which means King of the World.