It has become a popular saying, often attributed to Mark Twain (although there is no known source that he ever said it) that, 'If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed, but if you read the newspaper, you're misinformed.' If true, we would seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place, in…
It is taught in Kabbalah that Hashem has three hands: יָד הַגְּדוֹלָה [yad ha-gedolah, the great hand], יָד הַחֲזָקָה [yad ha-chazakah, the strong hand], and יַד הָרָמָה [yad ha-ramah, the exalted hand]. What are these hands? They are spiritual lights, i.e. the sefirot in the upper world of Atzilut. Yad ha-gedolah corresponds to chesed on…
A number of months ago, a friend of mine asked me why some people (such as 'yours truly') clap from time to time during davening, even during Shemoneh Esreh itself. At the time, I didn't give him much of an answer as I was caught off guard and didn't have sufficient knowledge at my fingertips….
As is known, ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘middle’ aspects exist in the structure of the Supernal Lights, i.e. the sefirot in the world of Atzilut. The right side descends from chochmah ('wisdom') and is dominated by chesed (loving-kindness, giving), the left side descends from binah ('understanding') and is dominated by gevurah (severity, strictness, judgment, self-restraint), and…
In last week's article, The Danger of Breathing in Poisoned Air, we learned that the transgression that led to the Jewish men leaving their holy encampment and going to the Midianite market was because they were not breathing in the pure air that emanated from the mouth of Moshe Rabbeinu. In this week's essay, we…
Balak's and Bilaam's attempts to curse the Jewish People span three parashiot in Sefer Bemidbar: Balak, Pinchas, and Mattot. That fact alone should give us some idea of its monumental importance. Let's explore the story together. After Bilaam realized that Hashem wasn't going to give him an opening to curse the Jewish Nation directly, he…
We know the story. Balak hired Bilaam to curse Yisrael but was unsuccessful because Bilaam was permitted only to speak blessings upon Yisrael. Nevertheless, Bilaam devised a plan, which he knew that if it succeeded, destruction would come upon Yisrael from Hashem himself (see Sanhedrin 106a for details). The succinct summary is provided in Bemidbar…
In last week’s article, we reviewed the six main attributes of the parah adumah (disgraced, unblemished soul, occupied fully with Torah, a tzaddik who exhibits true shiflut, yet despised by the nation) and challenged the reader to see the connection between those attributes and the suffering servant of Yeshayah 52:13-53:12. As a follow up to…
In the early days of the automobile, if someone wanted to start his engine, he inserted the hand crank and turned it forcefully. Although he probably did not understand what was actually going on under the hood when he turned the crank, i.e. he did not understand the physical mechanism that connected his action in…
How do we ensure that in spite of aging physically, we never really get old? R' Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk was one of the early leaders in the Chasidic movement. He was the primary talmid of R' Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch. And after the Maggid’s passing, R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder…
R' Yochanan said (Megillah 31a): כׇּל מָקוֹם שֶׁאַתָּה מוֹצֵא גְּבוּרָתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אַתָּה מוֹצֵא עִנְוְותָנוּתוֹ (Every place where you find [mention of] the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, you find [mention of] His humility). That may sound rather surprising. After all, we tend to think of the Master of creation…
It is a well known principle in the Torah that a Jew must imitate his Creator. The Rambam codifies this in Sefer ha-Mitzvot (Mitzvot Aseh 8): היא שצונו להדמות בו יתעלה כפי היכולת (It is that He commanded us to imitate Him, may He be exalted, according to our ability). It is also taught in…