Tag: Rashi
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Parshat Vayechi opens with Yaakov Avinu doing something deeply personal. Before he dies, he gathers his sons and gives each one a different bracha. Not because he loved some more than others, but because he knew each one. He saw their nature, their struggles, and what each one would need to fulfill his unique mission.…
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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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The parsha begins with Noach ish tzaddik and ends with Avraham ha’chasid.Two righteous men. Two ways of serving Hashem. One preserved the world; the other began to redeem it. “Noach was a tzaddik, perfect in his generation.” Rashi teaches that some praise him for staying righteous amid corruption, while others say that beside Avraham, he…
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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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Living the Purpose of Our Redemption In Parshat Emor, we read a powerful command: “You shall not desecrate My holy name, and I shall be sanctified among the Children of Israel.” (Vayikra 22:32)Immediately after, the Torah reminds us: “I am Hashem who took you out of Egypt to be your God.” Rashi explains: The purpose…
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Parshat Acharei Mot tells us not to live like the nations of the world: “Like the ways of Egypt… and of Canaan… do not do.” (Vayikra 18:3) Why? Because their society was built on a belief that this world is all there is.If life ends at death, then why hold back?Why not mourn with despair?…
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In this week’s parsha, we learn something surprising:When Bnei Yisrael enter Eretz Yisrael, Hashem tells them that tzara’at will appear on the walls of their new houses. It sounds like a punishment—but Chazal reveal a deeper story. Rashi, quoting Vayikra Rabbah, explains that when the local nations heard Bnei Yisrael were coming, they hid their…
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The Double Mishkan: A Promise of Redemption This week’s parsha begins with a curious phrase:“Eileh Pekudei HaMishkan, Mishkan HaEidut…”Why the double language—Mishkan, Mishkan? Rashi, quoting the Midrash, explains that the repetition hints at something deeper.The word Mishkan can also be read as Mashkon—a collateral. This teaches us that the two Batei Mikdash in Yerushalayim were…
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Just Try: The Power of Effort and Emunah At the end of Sefer Shemot, we read how Bnei Yisrael completed all the parts of the Mishkan and brought everything to Moshe. Then, in Shemot 40:17–18, it says: “And it was in the first month… the Mishkan was erected. And Moshe erected the Mishkan.” Wait—who put…
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In Parshat Yitro, we encounter one of the most fundamental mitzvot in the Aseret HaDibrot: “Zachor et Yom HaShabbat l’kad’sho” – “Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it.” The Torah commands us to work for six days and then rest on the seventh, “For in six days Hashem made the heavens and the earth, and…
