Divrei Torah
Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim 1
This pasuk is referring to Yom Kippur. The famous, apropos Mishnah at the end of Masechta Yoma highlights this pasuk. R’ Elazar ben Azarya elucidates the pasuk ׳׳מכל חטאתיכם לפני ד׳ תטהרו׳׳ from all of your sins before Hashem, you shall be purified”. Sins between a man and his Creator…
Parshas Emor 1
Rashi brings down a beautiful explanation as to why the mitzvos of פאה (leaving over the stalks of grain in the corner of ones field for the needy to harvest) and לקט (leaving behind fallen stalks of grain for the poor to collect) are sandwiched between the mention of the holidays; Pesach…
Parshas Behar-Bechukosai 1
This is it. This is the cure. It is not a new discovery. It is something that we have had at our disposal all along. Rashi explains that the words ׳׳אם בחוקתי תלכו׳׳ are referring to our responsibility to toil in Torah learning, for the purpose of performing and maintaining the mitzvos…
Parshas Bamidbar 1
At the beginning of this week’s Parsha, Hashem commands Moshe Rabbeinu to count all of the Bnei Yisrael. Rashi explains that Hashem wanted us to be counted at this time in order to rest His Divine Presence upon us. The Shelah Hakadosh (whose prayer for righteous children we have…
Parshas Naso – Shavuos 1
The double usage of the word קרבנו -“his offering” in these pasukim must immediately grab our attention. After all, we have been trained to look out for this sort of discrepancy. Further investigation reveals that only this once, by the offering of the tribe of Yehuda, does the pasuk repeat the word קרבנו.
Parshas Beha’aloscha 1
The ילקוט cryptically states that Aharon was asking Moshe that if he and Miriam had sinned unintentionally that they should be forgiven as if they had sinned intentionally. The שב שמעתתא in his הקדמה explains this request of Aharon HaKohen. If Aharon and Miriam did not actually…
Parshas Shelach 1
As Calev and Yehoshua attempt to assuage the national hysteria caused by the מרגלים and their frightening report of the inhabitants of ארץ ישראל , they plead with the בני ישראל to refrain from beginning a fruitless mutiny against Hashem and to continue to believe that Hashem will bring them safely…
Parshas Korach 1
At the very beginning of Sefer Devarim Moshe Rabbeinu chastises the Bnei Yisrael for the various sins that they had committed in the מדבר . Moshe alludes to the times that the Bnei Yisrael challenged Hashem, using the names of the places where the unfortunate events occurred.
Parshas Chukas 1
The אור החיים הקדוש at the beginning of the Parsha asks why the mitzvah of the פרה אדומה (Red Heifer) is referred to as representing the law of the Torah as a whole. The pasuk may have expressed this mitzvah as ׳׳זאת חקת הטומאה׳׳ or ׳׳זאת חקת הטהרה׳׳ , which would refer to the purification process…
Parshas Balak 1
Rashi explains that Hashem scolded Bilaam – רשע , wicked one, are you unaware that Avraham Avinu, the father of the Bnei Yisrael, already preceded you in this act? We all know the famous pasuk from the ׳׳וישכם אברהם בבוקר…׳׳ ,עקידה – “and Avraham hastened in the morning and he saddled his donkey”.
Parshas Pinchas 1
The חומת אש explains that the way of the sinner is to compare himself to someone lower than he and attempt to attain indication by claiming, “this one as well acts in a sinful fashion.” To combat this errant reasoning, Hashem gave over the עשרת הדברות (Ten Commandments) to the Bnei Yisrael…
Parshas Matos-Maasei 1
Rashi explains that we learn from this pasuk that Moshe Rabbeinu was חלק כבודלנשיאים by teaching them first, and only afterwards continuing to teach the rest of Bnei Yisroel. Rashi continues to explain that it was in this same order that Moshe gave over all of the commandments to the nation, and the reason…
