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Ki Teitzei – The Two Battles We Fight Parshas Ki Teitzei begins with war and ends with war. But they’re not the same war. At the start, Chazal tell us the Torah speaks about the inner battle—the war with the yetzer hara. At the end, it speaks about the outer battle—the war with Amalek. Inside,…
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Shiluach Hakan, Honoring Parents, and the Power of Bitachon You’re walking a quiet trail and see a bird’s nest. A mother bird hovers protectively over her young. The Torah says: send away the mother, then take the eggs, “it will be good for you, and your days will be lengthened.” Ramban explains this mitzvah cultivates…
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Climbing the Right Mountain We’ve all heard of rock bottom — when a person loses everything and only then realizes it’s time to change. But Parshat Shoftim warns of another danger that’s spoken about far less. When you spend so much time climbing the mountain of success — money, fame, luxury — only to reach…
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Hashem wants us to love one another — not only in words, but in how we see, judge, and treat each other.Parshat Shoftim opens: “V’shaftu et ha’am mishpat tzedek” — judge the people with righteous judgment. The Rachmastrivka Rebbe explains that we begin Elul with Shoftim because as we prepare for Rosh Hashana and our…
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Jerry Seinfeld has a great bit about how easy it is for kids to make friends.You meet a kid at the park, he likes slides, you like slides—boom, best friends. But as adults, it’s different. You meet someone and start comparing: You can line up a hundred points of similarity, and yet we focus on…
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Serving Hashem According to the Blessing Parshat Re’eh repeats a powerful theme again and again: serve Hashem according to the blessings He has given you — “asher berachecha Hashem.” Rashi explains that our offerings, our giving, our avodat Hashem must be commensurate with the prosperity and abilities Hashem has placed in our lives. This is…
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Parshat Eikev – Kochi V’Otzem Yadi There’s an old joke about a man running late for a meeting, frantically circling the block looking for a parking spot. Desperate, he finally calls out, “Hashem, if You get me a parking spot, I’ll start doing more mitzvot—keep Shabbos, put on tefillin, have more kavana, be a better…
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The Torah describes Eretz Yisrael as: אֶ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ דֹּרֵ֣שׁ אֹתָ֑הּ תָּמִ֗יד עֵינֵ֨י ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ֙ בָּ֔הּ מֵֽרֵשִׁית֙ הַשָּׁנָ֔ה וְעַ֖ד אַחֲרִ֥ית שָׁנָֽה׃“A land that Hashem your G-d seeks out; His eyes are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” Look closely. The beginning is called “HaShana” (the year,…
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A man struggling to make ends meet wants to one day buy his wife a gift. He doesn’t have much, but every night, he empties whatever spare change he has into a jar—nickels, dimes, maybe the occasional dollar. “One day,” he tells himself, “this’ll turn into something special.” Years go by. The jar gets full.…
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“Let me go over and see the good land…” Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest leader in our history, pleads with Hashem to enter Eretz Yisrael.He doesn’t ask for comfort, reward, or recognition.All he wants is to step foot in the land Hashem promised. Chazal ask: Why did Moshe want to enter Eretz Yisrael so badly? Was…
