Divrei Chaim

Please excuse this being a jumble.  I wanted to talk a little bit about brachos.   The Midrash writes that Mordechai’s great cry of sufferin...

I am sure I am missing something obvious here, but I'm going to post this question anyway because I can't figure it out.  The gemara...

Today is the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy.  The Chayei Adam (155) writes that a person who experiences a miracle, and certainly...

1) It seems that Eliezer went out of his way to stress that his encounter with Rivka was guided by hashgacha pratis, and Lavan and family ...

1) Though the Ishbitzer on this week’s parsha uses this pasuk to define a different relationship, I want to borrow his thought and apply it ...

The Midrash (48:9) writes that Hashem countered Avraham’s argument to spare the reshaim of Sdom on account of the tzadikim by saying halev...

An article on PJ Media here discusses the exodus of Jews from France, who have begun to wonder, “… whether classic anti-Semitism is not b...

1) At the end of the parsha, after the akeidah, the Torah tells us that Avraham got news about the growth of Nachor’s family and his many ...

Rashi writes that each of the three malachim that visited Avraham was on a different mission.   One had come to heal Avraham, one had co...

I want to come back to the Meshech Chochma I ended off lastweek with.   Summary: the Meshech Chochma writes that the pasuk “ ki yidativ l...

1) The Meshech Chochma writes that in addition to the mitzvah of “v’limadtem osam,” to teach Torah to one’s sons, there is an additional m...

The opening of our parsha raises a host of questions. 1)       Sarah asks, “Can I have a child with such an old husband?”   Was Sarah...

1) Rav Gifter points out that many people mistakenly believe that the "mechayeiv" of chessed is the needs of the recipient. Not s...

1) The Belzer Rebbe made a point ( link ) in his hesped for R’ Ovadya Yosef that I think few others touched on.   We all know of R’ Ovadya Y...

(If you only want to read one point here, I would say jump to #4.) 1) Rashi comments on “ Eileh toldos Noach ” that the toldos, the offspr...

I'm enjoying doing a few shorter points rather than a long post: 1) Rashi quotes a debate as to whether “tzadik… b’dorosav” is meant...

1) Over the past year my son has started really delving into learning halacha (aside from his regular gemara sedorim) and I like to joke wit...

“When the nations of the world heard the thunder that accompanied mattan Torah, they came to Bilam, their prophet, and asked whether Hashem...