Immutability
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier, Rosh Kollel In על הניסים , the phrase recited when lighting the menorah, we declare, “that the whole of Chanukah these lights are holy and we are not permitted to use them, but rather only to look upon them in order to thank You and praise Your great name […]
Parshas Vayishlach
Print PDF By R’ Shloimie Lindenbaum וישלח יעקב מלאכים לפניו (פרק לב פסוק ד) The Parsha begins with Yaakov sending מלאכים to his brother Eisav, trying to preempt Eisav’s attack with a generous gift. Rashi immediately tells us that the usage of the term מלאכים here is literal, that Yaakov sent actual angels, as opposed […]
Attaining Spiritual Greatness
Print PDF By R’ Naftoly Bier In Chapter 32, Verse 25, it says, “And Yaakov was alone and a person (the angel of Esav) fought with him…” Rashi explains why he was alone, not with his family; for he had forgotten some small jugs. But why would he risk his life to be alone when […]
Parshas Vayeitzei
Print PDF By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי והיה ה’ לי לאלקים (פרק כח פסוק כא) Yaakov runs away from Eisav’s vengeful wrath to his notorious uncle, Lavan. On the way he turns to Hashem and beseeches Him to deliver him whole and healthy, spiritually and physically, from Lavan’s house. He promises […]
Unity
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier The Torah states: 28, 11, “He encountered the place and spent the night there…; He took from stones from the place which he arranged around his head and laid down in the place”. What is significant about the stones that it mentions? Rashi explains that he took stones and […]
Parshas Toldos
Print PDF By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum הנה אנכי הולך למות ולמה זה לי בכורה (פרק כה פסוק לב) Eisav, exhausted from his day in the field, asks his brother Yaakov for a bowl of עדשים. Yaakov agrees in exchange for the בכורה, the firstborn rights, which Rashi explains would entitle Eisav to serve in the […]
Yaakov and Essau
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier In פ’ תולדות, כה, כז, Genesis 25. 27, it states, “When the boys grew up, it came to pass that Essau was a man who understood hunting, a man of the field, and Yaakov, Jacob, an honest person, dwelling in tents.” The Torah does not state, ‘dwelling in a […]
Parshas Chayei Sara
Print PDF By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum ויהיו חיי שרה וכו’ (פרק כג פסוק א) The Parsha begins with the death of Sarah and Avraham’s subsequent search for a proper gravesite for his late wife. Rabbeinu Yonah deems this to be the tenth and final test in which Hashem tested Avraham. He explains that although Avraham […]
The Twosome of Greatness
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier We learn in this week’s Parsha that אברהם אבינו, our patriarch Avrohom, acquired a burial place for his deceased wife from the בני חת, the children of Heth. It was מערת המכפלה, the cave of Machpelah (the double cave), (where couples were buried). Avrohom Avinu specifically desired this place […]
Parshas Vayeira
Print PDF By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum לושי ועשי עוגות…ויקח חמאה וחלב ובן הבקר (פרק יח פסוק ו-ח) When the מלאכים came to visit אברהם he hastily prepared a lavish meal in their honor. While he prepared the meat, he instructed שרה to ready the bread. Strangely, though, when he served the food, the bread is […]
