Past Parshas

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Get Up And Try Again Jacob reprimanded the shepherds who were sitting idly by the well: “Water the sheep and go graze them.” The shepherds explained that they could not move the boulder that covered the well until all the shepherds came (Genesis 29:7-8). Couldn’t Jacob see that there was a huge boulder on the well? Why did he reprimand the shepherds? Perhaps they had tried to move it... Read More

When the angels told Abraham that Sarah would bear a child, she laughed. “How can I bear a child at my age?” G-d revealed to Abraham that Sarah had laughed in disbelief. Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh.” Sfas Emes says that Sarah was a holy person and did not lie. When the Torah says, “Sarah denied,” it means that Sarah was in denial, which is not the same as lying. Sometimes we are... Read More

The patriarch Abraham sends his servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Standing at the well, Eliezer says, “I will ask a young woman for a drink. If she also offers to water my camels, I know that she is a proper match for Isaac.” Rebecca gave Eliezer a drink, and indeed offered to water his camels. She became the wife of Isaac, the matriarch Rebecca, mother of the Jewish nation. The... Read More

The Torah says that Hashem spoke to Abraham after Lot had separated from him. Lot was not a spiritual person, and as long as Abraham was in his company, He did not receive any Divine communication. There is no question that Abraham retained his piety and integrity even in the companionship of Lot.  Hashem related to Abraham in this manner to teach us that regardless how strong a person is in his convictions, the association... Read More

The Delusion of Rationalization. The Torah says that the generation of the Flood was destroyed because it was corrupt. The term the Torah uses for “corrupt” is chamas. The Talmud definition of chamas is taking something from another person by force, but paying for it. This is a type of thievery which a person may justify because, “I paid him for it.” It is thievery nevertheless because the person did not want to sell it.... Read More

“G-d said, ‘Let us make man.’” All of creation is done by G-d alone. Only in creation of man does G-d say “Let us make man. G-d created animal and He created angels. Both are created in a state of completion. Now G-d wanted a different type of being, one that is created essentially an animal, but which, by his own efforts, will subdue his animalistic drives and become spiritual. G-d could have created man... Read More

Pray for Those Who Wronged You In this parsha, Moses gives his final blessing to the bnei Yisrael. The Ohr Hachaim points out that Moses had suffered for forty years from his cantankerous people. Moses had only one wish, to be allowed into the Holy Land, but he was denied this fervent wish because of the Israelites’ sins (Deuteronomy 4:21). One would think that before his death, he would express his anger to them. But... Read More

“You are standing here  today, before Hashem…the covenant which Hashem seal with you today…but with whoever is here today,  and with whoever is not here with us today” (Deuteronomy 29:1-14) The repetition of “today” is unnecessary for the context of Moses’ message. It adds nothing to the meaning of the message. It can only be that Moses is stressing that fulfillment of the covenant with Hashem can be only if one focuses on just today,... Read More

When in Love, Think Twice.  “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10).   Chinuch explains that the two animals pull at different rates, and one or both will suffer. Chinuch explains that this applies to human relationships as well. Two people with conflicting personality types should not become partners in a business nor in a marriage.   A farmer who is eager to get his plowing done may overlook the fact... Read More

“You shall not accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise ” (Deuteronomy 16:19) We are all judges, making many judgments every day. Every desire that one has is a bribe, affecting one’s judgment to favor the desired act. A recovering alcoholic said, “In all my years of drinking, I never took a drink unless I decided it was the right thing to do at the time.” Our capacity to... Read More

The Purpose of Our Disease “See, I give you today [both] a blessing and a curse. The blessing [will come] when you obey the commandments… The curse [will come] if you disobey the commandments…”—Deuteronomy 11:26-28. The command to “see” means to focus the mind until one “sees” things clearly. It is G‑d‘s call to the individual to seriously ponder the choice of good and evil, of blessing and curse, until it becomes as clear as... Read More