Divrei Chaim

It’s very hard to devote the needed time and energy to learn Parshas Metzora when Pesach is rapidly approaching and you are either busy clea...

The Midrash (15:4) opens the parsha of tzara’as with a mashal. A visitor to the king's palace notices that the king has a dungeon filled...

One of the non-kosher birds mentioned in the parsha is the “chassidah.” ( 11:19 )  Rashi explains that it is called chassidah because it doe...

There are what looks like three sections to the opening of Shemini: A) Moshe’s instructions to Aharon and Bnei Yisrael as to what korbano...

The eigel brought by Aharon on opening day of the Mishkan was a kaparah for cheit ha’eigel.  The gemara (Sanhedrin 7) writes that Chur tried...

או ירצה וישמע משה פירוש התורה מעידה שחילוק זה שמעו משה מפי הקב''ה, וייטב בעיניו הדבר אשר עשה אהרן. ואם תאמר אם שמע כן מפי הקב...

Not a lot to say yet this week : ( 1) The Ba’al haTurim at the opening of our parsha writes that because Moshe spent seven days by the burni...

There is an interesting point R’ Baruch Rosenberg, R”Y of Slabodka, makes in his sichos (Divrei Baruch) that I want to take in a completely ...

1) The Minchas Chinuch in a few places raises the question of whether there is any value to a kiyum mitzvah done with a chatzi shiur. Do yo...

Mordechai insisted that Esther go to plead her case to Achashveirosh, but she responds that she has not been called to the palace for some t...

1) Yesterday when I saw the headline " ADL Condemns Cruz for 'Demonizing Muslims' " after the Brussels attack, I thought t...

The gemara (Meg 12) relates that R’ Shimon bar Yochai’s students asked him what Bnei Yisrael did wrong that caused the gezeirah of Haman – a...

1) Rashi comments at the beginning of the parsha (“leimor”) that Moshe was told to speak “divrei kibushin” to Bnei Yisrael. “Divrei kibushi...

What was the hava amina of Shaul in thinking that he did not have to finish the job with Amalek? Why did he think keeping the animals aroun...

1) The Rambam writes in Hil Tefilah 13:17 בחנוכה ביום ראשון קורין מברכת כהנים עד סוף קרבן המקריב ביום הראשון. וביום שני קורין קרבן נשיא שהק...

1) The Rama at the end of the Hil Purim writes that there is no problem of lo tilbash gever simlas isha for a boy to dress up like a girl o...

“Va’teichel kol avodas mishkan ohel moed va’ya’asu Bnei Yisrael k’chol asher tzivah Hashem es Moshe…” (39:32). The pasuk switches from act...

Last week I quoted the Seforno’s explanation of the double-language in language in the pasuk, “ K’chu mei’itchem terumah la’Hashem kol ned...

This article is a must read. 1) The Netziv on our parsha asks a question that I don’t completely understand. The builders of the mishkan w...

1) “ Kiymu v’kiblu… v’al kol hanilvim aleihem ” (9:27) Rashi explains “kol ha’nilvim aleihem ” is a special ribuy to include geirim. Geirim...