Divrei Chaim

Fascinating Meshech Chochma points out that there are 13 times that the shem Havaya is mentioned in the parsha of bikurim, and he suggests t...

1) Many meforshim talk about why the particular 11 arurim mentioned in the parsha are singled out more than any other aveiros.  You can find...

 You have in this week's haftarah  כִּֽי־מֵ֥י נֹ֙חַ֙ זֹ֣את לִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִשְׁבַּ֗עְתִּי מֵעֲבֹ֥ר מֵי־נֹ֛חַ ע֖וֹד עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ כֵּ֥ן נִשְ...

עַל־דְּבַ֞ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹא־קִדְּמ֤וּ אֶתְכֶם֙ בַּלֶּ֣חֶם וּבַמַּ֔יִם בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֣ם מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם וַאֲשֶׁר֩ שָׂכַ֨ר עָלֶ֜יךָ אֶת־בִּל...

 ר׳ עקיבא אומר: כשמועו, שאינו יכול לעמוד בקשרי המלחמה ולראות חרב שלופה. ר׳ יוסי הגלילי אומר: הירא מעבירות שבידו.  Yesterday I posted one ap...

Among the people who are sent home and do not participate in war is מִי־הָאִ֤ישׁ הַיָּרֵא֙ וְרַ֣ךְ הַלֵּבָ֔ב יֵלֵ֖ךְ וְיָשֹׁ֣ב לְבֵית֑וֹ  (2...

The end of the parsha deals with the sugya of a dead body found between cities and the offering of eglah arufah by the B"D as a kaparah...

  I) With respect to the mitzvah of appointing judges, The Rambam distinguishes between Eretz Yisrael and ch"ul: אין אנו חייבין להעמיד ...

The gemara in R"H tells us that R' Abahu made a takana to blow teruah, shevarim, and shevarim-teruah to cover all the bases of the ...

1) Sefer Devarim is the mussar talk Moshe gave to Klal Yisrael before his death.  " R'ei anochi nosein lifneichem bracha u'klal...

From today's WSJ, in an article on Chabad campus outreach : Rabbi Seligson agrees with progressives that the less involved “want somethi...

There is a din that a navi cannot add any mitzvos to the Torah.  Therefore, if a navi tells us that G-d commanded a new mitzvah, we know he ...

1)Hard to believe that Elul is upon us already!  The Targum on the pasuk שְׁלַח־לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֙רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ explains the word וְ...

We've discussed many times before (e.g. see here , here , here , and here ) the following famous Ohr haChaim, based on Zohar: Chazal tel...

I want to return to my post at the end of last week and add two points before moving on to something new.  Last week we discussed why perek...

At the middle of chapter 9 in our parsha the Torah recounts the cheit ha'eigel, Hashem's anger, and Moshe's tefilah to avert ter...

For those in the ""the Torah is more machmir than the health authorities"" camp, now that the new CDC guidelines are out...

1) I do not understand this comment in the Agra d'Kallah:  כי קע"ב שנה קודם האלף החמישי חרב הבית, הוא סוד ואתה תשופנו עק"ב (בר...

I'm not sure if this story is amusing or sad or both.  A couple came to a din torah by R' Shternbruch because this supposed outsta...

1) Everybody knows the famous words of the haftarah (Yeshayahu 40), "Nachamu nachamu ami...," but what I think most people don...