This Shabbos, Parshas Vayakhel, Mevorchim Chodesh Adar, we will lein from a second sefer Torah in honor of Parshas Shekalim. This special Torah reading (Shemos 30:11-16) is the first of four special Shabbasos that lead up to Chag Ha’Pesach. Before Purim, we read Shekalim and...
This week’s parsha, Parshas Ki Tisa, opens with further instructions and details regarding the building of the Mishkan. We learn of the machatzis ha’shekel (which is also read before Purim, for Parshas Shekalim), the spices for the anointing oil, the eleven spice mixture of the...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Tetzaveh, the Torah commands us regarding the bigdei kehunah, the special priestly vestments worn by the kohanim as they served in the Mishkan/Mikdash. The Kohen Gadol (Aharon ha’Kohen) wore eight special garments and the kohen hed’yot (Aharon's sons) wore four...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Terumah, the Torah introduces us to the Mishkan. The journey from slavery to freedom occurs in the book of Shemos - also known as Sefer ha’Geula (the book of Redemption) in three main stages: physical freedom (Shemos, Va’era, Bo, Beshalach),...
In this week’s parsha, Mishpatim, the narrative of Matan Torah continues. Whereas Parshas Yisro delineates the astonishing, awe-inspiring and impactful method by which the Torah was given - thunder, lightning, the continuous blast of the shofar growing ever stronger, the mountain itself was shaking, the...
After hundreds of years in Egypt, and a century of slavery, followed by a miraculous salvation and Divinely orchestrated Exodus, wherein the nation achieved physical freedom, the Torah now moves to the next chapter on the path to freedom: Matan Torah - the giving of...
In lieu of a written dvar torah this week (which I did not have time to write due to my trip to Israel B”H), here is the shiur link to a shiur I presented Wed. evening (1/24/24) in J'lem, for the OU WI 2nd Nach...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Bo, the Bnei Yisrael finally march to freedom. After 210 years in Egypt, the redemption unfolds. The final three makkos - locusts, darkness, and the plague of the firstborn - are brought upon Egypt, the final blow that decimates an...
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Va’era, the long awaited redemption begins to unfold. After almost 210 years in Egypt, the Bnei Yisrael are about to go free. The first of the seven makkos are brought upon the Egyptians in this parsha, as Hashem begins to...
With the opening of Sefer Shemos - ברוך שהחיינו וקימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה - we learn once again about the Egyptian exile, enslavement, subjugation and bitter lives the Bnei Yisrael lived, suffering at the hands of Pharaoh and Egypt. The methods of subjugation included propaganda...