Tag: dvar Torah
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Chayei Sarah – Becoming Someone Who Can Laugh at the End Chayei Sarah opens with the words “Vayihyu chayei Sarah…” — and Chazal point us to something extraordinary. The Chasam Sofer, based on the pasuk “Yodeia Hashem yemei temimim…” (Tehillim 37:18), explains that the lives of the temimim, those who walk with wholehearted trust, are…
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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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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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We’ve wandered long enough. In this week’s parsha, Moshe begins his final address to Bnei Yisrael.But he’s not speaking to the generation that left Egypt. He’s speaking to their children—the ones who struggled in the desert, grew through challenges, and matured over forty long years. Now, they stand at the threshold of Eretz Yisrael.They’re finally…
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What would you do if you knew that fulfilling a mitzvah meant you were one step closer to the end of your life? Most people might stall. Look for a way to delay. Try to hold on just a little longer. But not Moshe Rabbeinu. At the beginning of Parshat Matot, Hashem commands Moshe: “Nekom…
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The sin of the meraglim wasn’t just a tactical error. It was a rejection of the one of the greatest gifts Hashem had promised His people — Eretz Yisrael. Hashem had described it as a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the land that Hashem watches over from the beginning…
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Two Jews can daven the same tefillah, attend the same shiur, and give the same tzedakah — yet in Hashem’s eyes, they may be worlds apart. Why?Because it’s not just what we do that matters.It’s how.It’s the kavana behind it all. The Chovot HaLevavot teaches that one person may go through life focused on themselves,…
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In the early 2000s, the MTA in New York City rolled out a powerful campaign:“If you see something, say something.”It was a call to action.A reminder that noticing something off wasn’t enough. You had to respond. To act. But the Torah takes it even further:If you see something… do something. In this week’s parsha, we…
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In Parshat Bamidbar, Hashem commands Moshe to count Bnei Yisrael. The Ramban offers three reasons for this census, but one stands out in our modern world: Moshe and Aharon themselves counted each person.They looked them in the eyes. Spoke to them by name.And when they were together, they gave them a personal beracha. Think about…
