Thursday, October 31, 2024

Rogatchover on building the teivah: is the mitzvah the maaseh or the totza'ah?

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The Rogatchover asks what the geder of Hashem's mitzvah to make a teivah was.  Was it the עצם המעשׂה, the act of building the teivah, or ...
Monday, October 14, 2024

an experience that makes an impression

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Rashi writes that the gathering of  וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה אֶת⁠ כׇּל⁠ עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל took place למחרת יום הכפורים, כשירד מן ההר.  When t...
Friday, October 11, 2024

tefilas neilah - kaparah of the tzibur

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Rambam writes in hil teshuvah 1:4 that teshuvah alone is not enough to be mechapeir on chilul Hashem:  במה דברים אמורים בשלא חילל את השם בשע...
Thursday, October 10, 2024

bracha on besamim on Y"K which falls on motzei shabbos; bracha on ner when a woman recites havdalah

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There is a machlokes ha'poskim whether the bracha on besamim is said in havdalah when Y"K falls on Shabbos. The SA writes (624:3) w...
Monday, October 07, 2024

five thoughts on this 10/7 anniversary

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I am not sure why we are marking the date of 10/7 and not the Hebrew calendar date when the tragedy of Hamas' attack occurred (albeit a ...
Tuesday, October 01, 2024

judgment of the individual and judgment of the tzibur

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There is a din that before R"H a person has to bathe and take a haircut before Y"T because it's a day of celebration, as we ar...
Thursday, September 26, 2024

R' Yochanan's bittersweet tears

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The Chofetz Chaim, whose yahrtzeit is 24 Elul, writes that the mitzvah of  וְעַתָּה כִּתְבוּ לָכֶם אֶת⁠ הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת, which appears im...
Wednesday, September 25, 2024

get divreichaim in your email -- widget fixed

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I should have taken care of this a long time ago, but thanks to a little push from a reader I updated the widget on the site so there is onc...
Tuesday, September 24, 2024

when the big test comes, there are no hints

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R' Shteinman records that R' Moshe Landinski, RY in the yeshiva in Radin, once told the Chofetz Chaim that he was reviewing mishnayo...
Monday, September 23, 2024

simple and obvious

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From here : The reasons for this are so obvious it’s almost embarrassing to have to explain them once again. But it all began during the ad...
Friday, September 20, 2024

hakaras ha'tov for the bad as well

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  אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה וַיָּגׇר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט וַיְהִי⁠ שָׁם לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב One of the lessons of the...

no hishtadlus required

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  וְהָיָה אִם⁠ שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת⁠ כׇּל⁠ מִצְוֺתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם וּנְתָנְךָ ה...
2 comments:
Thursday, September 12, 2024

it all depends on context - the ptur of chaburah shel mitzvah for ben sorer u'moreh

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  כִּי⁠ יִהְיֶה לְאִישׁ בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה אֵינֶנּוּ שֹׁמֵעַ בְּקוֹל אָבִיו וּבְקוֹל אִמּוֹ וְיִסְּרוּ אֹתוֹ וְלֹא יִשְׁמַע אֲלֵיהֶם (22:1...

how quickly people forget 9/11

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On 9/11 I was working for a company in lower Manhattan, on Broad Street, and had the unfortunate privileges of having front row seats for th...
Monday, September 09, 2024

matzeivah vs mizbeiach -- the value of individualism

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 וְלֹֽא⁠־תָקִ֥ים לְךָ֖ מַצֵּבָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׂנֵ֖א ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ׃ Why do we find this expression אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׂנֵ֖א ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ davka here by the i...
2 comments:
Sunday, September 08, 2024

a cause worthy of your support

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I rarely advertise causes to support here, and in this case I am a noge'a ba'davar since my son learns in this kollel, but at the sa...

l'vaker b'heichalo

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לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹעַם⁠ ה׳ וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵֽיכָלֽוֹ׃ Rav Tamir Granot, R"Y of Orot Shaul, explains that the term לְבַקֵּ֥ר here has a simi...
Thursday, September 05, 2024

malchus - Divine right or by consent of the people?

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Why is it that מלך שמחל על כבודו אין כבודו מחול (Kes 17a)?  Rashi explains: שום תשים עליך מלך. ישראל הוזהרו שישימו עליהם שימות הרבה כלומר שת...
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Thursday, August 29, 2024

the King does things on a Kingly scale; tzedaka on condition; when she'lo lishma detracts from a mitzvah and when not

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1) R' Zilberstein tells the following story: There was a Jew who lived close to the home of the parents of the king of Morocco who wante...
Friday, August 23, 2024

כֹּחִי֙ וְעֹ֣צֶם יָדִ֔י - can one take credit for doing a good job?

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We read in our parsha (8:11-18): הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֔ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֖ח אֶת ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ לְבִלְתִּ֨י שְׁמֹ֤ר מִצְו‍ֹתָיו֙ וּמִשְׁפָּטָ֣יו וְחֻקֹּת...
3 comments: