Divrei Chaim

Little time to write today, so just a quick thought from the Ishbitza: there are two different wars mentioned in this week’s parsha of Besha...

Its probably not new, but I first noticed it recently on jrants -- there is a blog for Reform judaism. Of course I don't suggest giving...

The Midrash comments that Hashem created Yam Suf on condition that it would split when called upon to do so by the Jewish people. Why was t...

Last week we touched on the concept of lo te’hey shemiya gedolah m’reiya (Rosh HaShana 25b). If beis din sees the new moon, they can decla...

Rashi explains that Hashem showed Moshe an image of exactly how the moon should appear -- "hachodesh hazeh " -- to declare Rosh C...

Rashi (12:6) explains that G-d ordered the Jewish people to take the korban Pesach four days before its shechita so they would have a mitzva...

From "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers, pp. 116-117: …In summer, my mother was a great pie maker and she had a way of holding up a p...

The Mishna (R”H 25) tells us that beis din which sees the new moon is allowed to declare Rosh Chodesh without witnesses testifying before th...

Thinking about the question of whether there was a mitzvah for Pharoah to listen to Moshe triggered my wondering about a somewhat related qu...

My BIL posted an article from the Jewish Post describing the relief efforts of Israeli doctors and other personnel in Haiti. The article men...

In the previous post I mentioned R' Shteinman's question as to why Pharoah should have been obligated to listen to Moshe -- the comm...

A few quick thoughts on the parsha: 1) Rashi interprets the pesukim at the beginning of the parsha as an admonishment to Moshe for complaini...

My wife just received from the printer her latest issue of Kallah Magazine and is now in the process of distributing in in the usual places...

Daughter #2 actually wanted to give a dvar torah at our little siyum (as opposed to myself and my son who do not look forward to speaking pu...

There is an amazing Zohar on Parshas Shmos which darshens as follows: Vayemareru es chayeihem b’avodah kasha B’chomer – zu kal v’chomer U’b...

When Hashem charged Moshe with the mission of redeeming of the Jewish people, he told him, “ V’sham’u l’kolecha…”( 3:18), guaranteeing that ...

It seems like only yesterday I posted a nice kashe my son had on the last Mishna in Horiyos when he made a siyum on Mishnayos Nezikin, and n...

Last night we had what I guess I could describe as a family simcha as we hosted a little celebration for multiple siyumim. Firstly, my son h...

The Midrash tells us that Moshe sinned with the word “az” when he complained “ U’mei’Az basi el Phraoh l’dabeir b’shemecha he’ra l’am hazeh ...

Following up on the previous post : the Ketzos brought a proof from the fact that a shliach appointed to slaughter an animal for a ganav doe...