In one of his talks discussing the holiday of Chanukah, the latter day Torah scholar R. Shimshon Pincus described a progression in the various holidays celebrated by observant Jews round the world. The first holiday in the Jewish order of holidays, R. Pincus contended, is Pesach (Passover), the time that the offspring of Abraham, Isaac…
We read (Sh’mot 19:1-2), “In the third month from the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, on this day, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai. And they journeyed from Rephidim and arrived at the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness; and Israel encamped there, opposite the mountain.” As regards the…
Between the first day of Pesach, commemorating the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, and the following holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the Israelites’ receiving G-d’s Torah, is an interval of fifty days. In the Torah received from G-d, the nation of Israel is commanded (Vayikra 23:15 -16), “And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the…
As we approach the joyous holiday of Pesach (Passover) and we prepare for the festive seder, we are reminded of the verse in the Torah in which G–d tells the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “And I shall take you to Me for a nation” (Sh’mot 6:7). After many years on foreign soil, subject to…
In the Torah section of Naso, G-d tells Moses (Bamidbar 6:2-3), “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: A man or a woman who shall set [himself] apart by taking a nazarite vow to set [himself] apart to G-d. From wine and hard drink shall he abstain.” On the aforementioned, Rashi asks, “Why…
In the Torah section of Bamidbar (3:6-8), G-d tells Moses, “Bring near the tribe of Levi and have it stand before Aaron the Priest, and they shall serve him. They shall safeguard his charge and the charge of the entire assembly before the Tent of Meeting, to perform the service of the Tabernacle. They shall…
In the beginning of the Torah section of Bechukotai, we read (Vayikra 26:6), “And I will make peace in the land, you will lie without fear.” Upon this verse, Rashi comments: “You might say, ‘We have what to eat, and we have what to drink, but if there is no peace, there is nothing.’ Therefore,…
We read in the Torah section of Behar (Vayikra 25:20-22): “And if you will say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year?, behold, we will not sow and not gather in our crops!’ I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year and it will yield a crop sufficient for the three-year…
The Torah section of Emor begins (Vayikra 21:1-23): “And G-d said to Moses: Say to the priests the sons of Aaron and tell them: Each of you shall not contaminate himself to a [dead] person among his people. Except for the relative who is closest to him, to his mother and to his father, to…
In the Torah section of Kedoshim, we find the famous verse (Vayikra 19:18), “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Many, upon reading this verse, wonder as to its exact meaning and ramifications. In explanation of this verse, R. Eliyahu Dessler amplifies upon it, in Mikhtav Me’Eliyahu III pp. 88- 90, in accordance with the exposition on the verse by…
