Imagine the most awesome and splendid of occasions accompanied by the most fabulous and incredible fanfare and it would approximate the scene that was when Moses had nearly completed the week-long introductory period of the Mishkan (Tabernacle).
Tag: devar torah
Our lives are on loan from God
The following story is from a shiur given by Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein. There was once a young lady who was blind and she was looking for a shidduch. As a blind girl, it was very tough for her. Eventually, she…
Dvar Torah Vayikra: The Fundamental Rift
There often lies within each parsha the potential for a disagreement between the Akivan and Ishmaelian perspectives, and although it may appear as a tangled mess of discrete points of dissension, in truth, there is a virtual fault line the…
Dvar Torah Ki Sisa: A Divine Peep Show
We could talk for months about this week’s parsha, and I might just have to write for FrumSatire for another 10 years to give myself enough Ki Sisa’s to cover each of these topics.
Dvar Torah Teruma: Location of Communication
The heavily debated “descent of God” during the revelation at Sinai between the Ishmaelian and Akivan schools is rehashed when it comes to God’s proposed presence in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), with each side taking a very anticipated approach as to…
Dvar Torah Va’era: Moses’ Contribution
Although the Five Books of Moses is only about three thousand words longer than Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, it enjoys relative immensity in its role as Judaism’s scripture because attempts are made to take note of nearly all…
Dvar Torah Vayigash: Leadership Change
Guest post by Rabbi Evan Hoffman In Parshat Miketz the sons of Jacob found themselves between a rock and a hard place. Having traveled to Egypt for the purpose of buying food to sustain their families through the ongoing famine,…
Chanukah 2011: The Revolt Against “Stop Sign Judaism”
The Jewish year contains a number of rabbinically mandated holidays and two of them, in particular, seem to emphasize two very different reflections on Jewish history: Chanukah focuses on the spiritual preservation of Jewish traditions, while Purim centers on the…
The YU Beacon sex scandal devar Torah
By Rabbi Joshua Strulowitz Most people had never heard of the YU Beacon until a week or two ago. I know I hadn’t. Now it seems that it has the Orthodox community abuzz and the YU community in a fierce…
Dvar Torah Vayeshev: Fourfathers?
From the standpoint of the reader, it’s often obvious who and what is important in a work of prose based on the amount of airtime an individual or episode is granted, and the biblical narrative proves no different. For example,…
Dvar Torah Vayishlach: 613
Man thirsts for the opportunity to rally under a banner, informing others of his intentions and habits in a public way — and so we have flags, banners, campaign buttons and bumper stickers. (No one cares if you have a…
Dvar Torah Vayetzei: Uncle Moishy the Rationalist
This week’s Torah portion opens with Jacob’s dream, and the verses emphasize that Jacob awoke from his sleep frightened and in surprise. Rashi explains that it was not the prophetic contents of the dream that startled him, but rather, it…
Dvar Torah Toldos: Keeping the Faith
Rashi brings down the Talmud (Yoma 28b) asserting that Abraham observed the entire Torah and more, and ostensibly, this can be extended to include the other patriarchs as well; this is pretty much what we all learn in 3rd grade,…
Dvar Torah Chayei Sarah: Supermodel Tzadekes
Rashi’s first question on the Torah looks into the biblical rationale for waiting until Exodus 12 to reach the first commandment. An alternative answer to his question is often built around a comment in the Talmud (Avodah Zara 25a), which…
Dvar Torah Lech Lecha: Extra-Mosaic Authorship of Biblical Text
Over the past few years, I’ve come to appreciate a pervasive guided uniformity among Orthodox Judaism — something I like to call Uncle Moishy Judaism. And while I’m sure that many others have sensed this over the years, I think…
Simchas Torah 2011
“Moshe emes v’soraso emes” — “Moses is truthful and his Torah is truthful” Many people will be singing these words over and over (and over and over) this Thursday evening, which is why it’s of great concern when an apparently…
Rosh Hashana 2011: Heads and Tails
We are taught that we eat the head of a fish so as to enter the year on a positive note, rather than a tail, which would suggest a year of inferior quality. How is this different from sticking pins…
Dvar Torah Ki Savo: 22/8
The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its radius can be approximated in the form of a fraction as 22/7, although it is more commonly expressed in decimal form. According to the talmud, 22/8 is the fraction that…
Dvar Torah Shoftim: (Mis)Direction
We find in this week’s parsha one of the most poorly understood verses in the entire Torah. In fact, it’s so misunderstood that it makes heretics smile with satisfaction and the people who watch the heretics smile wonder why they…
Dvar Torah Re’eh: Temporal Temple Sandwich
Moses begins this week’s parsha with an emphasis on the Temple and its centrality — both physically and figuratively — in the future of Jewish life in the Land of Israel.
Dvar Torah Eikev: I Think, Therefore I Love
This week will be my seventh wedding anniversary, so I figured I’d discuss something related to love.
Dvar Torah Va’eschanan: SzHaAcMhOoRr (b’dibbur echad)
If one takes a moment to consider it, it’s really quite extraordinary that the Torah includes information about the giving of the Torah — it sort of reminds me of an Escher drawing.
Parshas Masei: Urban Planning
Just remembered that the weekly devar Torah guy is out of town, good thing I had to find a devar because now I know what parshah it is this week. The regular devar Torah guy will be back after tisha…
Dvar Torah Pinchas: Warning (Spoilers)
What exactly did Moses receive on Sinai? Some, like R’ Akiva, advance a maximalist approach and claim that Moses received everything, while others, like R’ Ishmael, advance a minimalist approach and assert that Moses received merely general categories of the…
Dvar Torah Shlach: Remember to Remember to Remember…
At the conclusion of this week’s parsha, we find the third and final paragraph of the Shema Yisroel prayer, and although Jews are bidden to recite it twice daily, like most prayers, unfortunately, the tendency is to say it without as much…