Parshas Lech Lecha: Avrohom Avinu’s Legacy
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier Every day in תפלת שחרית we quote the פסוק from נחמיה: “ומצאת את לבבו נאמן לפניך, And You (Hashem) found his (Avrohom Avinu’s) heart faithful to You.” HaRav Yeruchem Levovitz defines this trait of אברהם אבינו, our patriarch Avrohom as a “בר סמכא”, a person that one can always […]
Parshas Noach
Print PDF By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum אלה תולדות נח נח איש צדיק…(פרק ו פסוק ט) ויחל נח איש האדמה… (פרק ט פסוק כ) Our Parsha begins with referring to Noach as an איש צדיק – a righteous man, and towards the end describes him as being an איש האדמה – a man of the earth. […]
Parshas Noach: Animal Rights
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier In בראשית א’:כט-ל, Genesis Chapter 1:29-30, it states: Hashem said, “I have given you (humankind) all herbage yielding fruit… And to every beast… and bird… and all that moves on the earth… every green herb for food.” The Ramban teaches, “Hashem did not permit Adam and his wife to […]
Parshas Bereishis: Resilience
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier The Yom Tov of Sukkos affords us an opportunity for seven days to be enveloped in Hashem’s world, completely transcending the mundane existence. Despite the fact, “ארבעים שנה אקוט בדור, For forty years Hashem was angry with us in the time we traveled in the מדבר, wilderness” (Psalms 95), […]
Sukkos: Journeys
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier The Alter of Kelm addressed an issue that many have pondered. Why is it that residents of one country or one hemisphere are constantly travelling to another country or another hemisphere? After all there is much to investigate and enjoy in one’s own country, not to mention the patriotic […]
Our Father, Our King
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier In the weekday שמונה עשרה, we beseech Hashem: סלח לנו אבינו כי חטאנו מחל לנו מלכנו כי פשענו כי מוחל וסולח אתה, “Forgive us, our Father for we have erred, pardon us (it means not to even harbor resentment) our King for (though) we have willfully sinned – for […]
The Gift of Rosh Hashana
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier At first it seems puzzling and incongruous as to why Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgment precedes Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Wouldn’t it be more logical to first articulate our past mistakes, sincerely regret them and proclaim to Hashem, “I will improve my ways” and then ask […]
Parshas Ki Savo: Human Greatness
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier מצוה תר”ג, the 607th commandment in the Torah, is undeniably one of the most unique and intriguing ones. The Torah instructs that on the last day of Pesach at מנחה both the fourth and seventh year of the שמיטה cycle, to articulate in the בית המקדש, Holy Temple, that […]
Parshas Ki Seitzei: Sensitivity
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier In this week’s פרשה, which contains the largest amount of מצוות, commandments (more than 10% of the 613); there are many that deal with one’s responsibility to another and to Klal Yisroel at large. Chazal teach us that in ספר דברים, Deuteronomy, there are important lessons to derive from […]
Parshas Re’eh: The Primacy of Torah
Print PDF By Rabbi Naftoly Bier In this week’s portion, פרשה, we are “reminded” of our responsibilities towards the לוים, the Levites (and כהנים, priests). Though the Torah has commanded us to support them with the 24 gifts, כ”ד מתנות, to the כהנים, the priests and the mitzvah of giving the first ten percent of […]