Ki Sisa 5757Volume 18 · Issue 23

Erased from the Book

Torah. Then, those who do not believe in the Oral Torah flourished, may they swiftly perish, and they oppressed Israel exceedingly. Rabban Gamliel and his court saw this as the greatest human need and instituted in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer the blessing against heretics where we plead repeatedly for them to perish swiftly (Rambam, Hilchos Tefillah 2:1).

Emor 5757Volume 18 · Issue 28

Cry of the Counting

The Torah is the source of our life. In our Evening Prayer, we declare, “We shall rejoice in the words of Your Torah and in Your commandments for all eternity because they are our life and the length of our days.” When we align ourselves with the honor of the Torah during these

Bamidbar 5757Volume 18 · Issue 31

Beloved Encampments

The Rambam states of the weekly Torah Reading (Hilchos Tefillah 13:1-2), “The common practice throughout Israel is to complete the Torah in one year….”

Noach 5757Volume 18 · Issue 6

Pillar of the World

…the sages tell us regarding the first blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, “One may have thought that they would end it with all the Fathers. Of this, God said to Avraham Avinu, “And you shall be a…

Ki Savo 5757Volume 19 · Issue 3

Covenantal Eternality

This is what these portions teach us—and this is the ordinance of Ezra to bring out a Torah Scroll to read them. As cited in Tosafos from Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon (Megillah 31b) and as the Rambam rules (Hilchos Tefillah 13:2), the ordinance requires us to read both Ki Savo and Nitzavim before Rosh Hashanah to end the year and its curses because the curses of Nitzavim continue the curses of Ki Savo.

Shelach 5758Volume 19 · Issue 31

The Blue Thread

It all depends where one is planted. One who is planted here only needs a slight reminder to return here. One who is planted there, even a strand is enough to prohibit prayer.

Chukas 5758Volume 19 · Issue 32

Walls of Clarity

include the separation of Israel and the nation is no separation at all. As the Talmud concludes (Pesachim 103b), our separation from the nations is one of the three separations necessary to fulfill the obligation of reciting the Havdalah prayer after the Sabbath.

Balak 5758Volume 19 · Issue 33

One Message

which must always be the reverse, such as black on white, illumination of darkness. “There is no light except when it pierces darkness” (Zohar 1:32a), “He rolls away light from before darkness, and darkness from before light” (Evening Prayer).

Toldos 5758Volume 19 · Issue 9

Cultivating Deliverance

“This refutes those who claim the Resurrection is not intimated in the Torah.” It is stated in this verse as a matter of cultivation and growth. We say this in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, “King who brings death and grants life and cultivates deliverance,” and deliverance means the Resurrection.

Shelach 5765Volume 1 · Issue 16

Slander: The Ultimate Lack of Intelligence

Fundamentals chapter 3). Other than him, all earlier commentators—even those who argue with the Rambam on all other subjects—agree with the Thirteen Fundamentals of Faith, and even expound upon them. The Arizal also accepted them, and prayer books throughout Jewry list them.

In The Three Weeks · Chapter 29View Sefer

Chukas 5765Volume 1 · Issue 18

Torah: Engraved Upon Our Hearts

life inherently includes the ability to live that life, as the Talmud states (Ta’anis 8b), “He Who gives life gives sustenance.” When the Creator metes out life to all that live (an expression found in the High Holiday prayer, VeChol Ma’aminim), He concurrently metes out what they require to live (see Eliyahu Rabbah, Orach Chaim 605).

In On the Torah V · Chapter 158View Sefer

Balak 5765Volume 1 · Issue 19

Creation: The True Relationship

dwellings of Yaakov (Tehillim 87:2).” The Talmud (Berachos 8a) understands the term “Zion” according to its literal meaning “prominence,” and reinterprets the verse as an expression of His love of the Jewish People for their prominence in prayer and Torah study, and for those who attend the synagogue and study halls. Consequently, in those places, the transformation of curse into blessing, “For God your Lord loves you,” remains.

In On the Torah V · Chapter 169View Sefer

Pinchas 5765Volume 1 · Issue 20

Destruction of the Self

prayers answered before he begins and one who lacks it can cry out all day and no one gives him any attention—even if he is one of the most prominent figures of his generation? The Talmud calls prayer the service of the heart (Ta’anis 2a). What is the meaning of heart? To what do we refer when we use the term? What is it that the Merciful One requires?

In The Three Weeks · Chapter 2View Sefer

Mattos 5765Volume 1 · Issue 21

Within the Straits of Sin

every revelation of its kind was a disaster among the Jewish People. No longer is it a process that grows and develops; rather, the Creator will reveal it clearly with the arrival of the Messiah, and thereby fulfill our prayer, “May our eyes see Your merciful return to Zion.”

In The Three Weeks · Chapter 3View Sefer

Terumah 5765Volume 1 · Issue 5

The Tabernacle: To Will His Sovereignty

We recite in the prayer of Aleinu, “Our King is true, and there is efes (nothing) other than Him.” When we proclaim, “Our King is true,” we declare that all else is untrue and that any other existence is essentially a lie. What then have we added with

Vayeishev 5760Volume 20 · Issue 13

Burning Unconsumed

As we say in the Lecha Dodi prayer, “The final act is first in thought.” Immediately at the beginning, the Creator revealed the final act. At the Burning Bush, He revealed to Moshe Rabbeinu where we would reach. “He is the One Who conveys the end from

Vayigash 5760Volume 20 · Issue 15

Enthroned by Heaven

The prayer for the Tenth of Teves, following other sources, identifies three different tragedies for these three days—the Greek translation of the Torah, the death of the last prophet, and the siege of Jerusalem.

Ki Seitzei 5759Volume 20 · Issue 2

Avoiding Past Mistakes

Yom Kippur is when the process ends. As we say in the closing prayer of the day, “It is the end of pardon and forgiveness.” The beginning is Rosh Chodesh Elul.

Beshalach 5760Volume 20 · Issue 20

Surrender of Being

Hence, due to the difficulty of the Exodus, one who did not mention it has not fully accepted the yoke of Heaven’s Kingship in the order of prayer and it is necessary to go back. But one who did not mention the Splitting of the Sea, which was not as difficult, need not go back.

VaYikra-Zachor 5760Volume 20 · Issue 26

United Against Excess

In the Sabbath Afternoon Prayer, we say, “You are One and Your Name is One, and who is like Your nation Israel, the nation of oneness in the world!” His Oneness and our oneness can only be revealed in full once Amalek is wiped