Parshas Beha’aloscha
Rabbi Berel Wein The Torah instructs Aharon, and through him all of his successors, the High Priests of Israel, that when lighting the great menorah one should make certain that the six outside lamps should all face into the center lamp. There are various opinions amongst the commentators as to how this was to be […]
Zei Gebentshed!
Rabbi Zvi Teichman One of the most powerful blessings we have been gifted with is the Birkas Kohanim — The Priestly Blessing. The very first blessing they are to bestow on us is יברכך — May Hashem bless you. Despite its generic nature the Midrash informs us that this refers to the blessing of עושר […]
Parshas Naso
Rabbi Berel Wein The book of Bamidbar contains many puzzling portions. In this week’s parsha, the Torah records the sacrificial offerings by the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel upon the dedication and consecration of the Tabernacle. These twelve offerings were identical in every detail, yet the Torah describes each of these offerings individually, […]
Shavuos
Rabbi Berel Wein Fifty days pass quickly, especially if one counts them individually. It seems that it was just yesterday when we were preparing ourselves to sit down at the Pesach seder table and here it is Shavuot at the end of the week. Though the holiday has a number of other names associated with […]
B’Karov Mamesh!
Rabbi Zvi Teichman At Mount Sinai the Torah describes how, Moshe brought forth the people from the camp toward G-d. Rashi says Hashem and the nation went out towards each other like a bridegroom greeting his bride. Rav Samson ben Zadok, the devoted disciple of the famed 13th century rabbinic figure and Tosafist, Rav Meir […]
Parshas Bamidbar
Rabbi Berel Wein The book of Bamidbar is perhaps one of the saddest, so to speak, of all of the Holy Scriptures. Whereas the book of Shemot, which records for us the sin of the Golden Calf, also gives us pause, it concludes with the final construction of the Mishkan and G-d’s Presence, so to […]
Parshas Behar-Bechukosai
Rabbi Berel Wein These two parshiyot together form the final bookend of the book of Vayikra. This conclusion of Vayikra is a rather somber one, with the dominant theme being the prediction of Jewish dereliction from Torah values and practices and the resultant exile from their land and sovereignty. Yet in these parshiyot there are […]
h, There You Are!!
Rabbi Zvi Teichman In the introduction to the restriction for Kohanim from becoming contaminated from the dead, they are referred to as the ‘Kohanim, the sons of Aharon’. Why did the Torah emphasize the obvious fact of their being descended from Aharon precisely at this juncture? The Zohar states that the Torah is seeking to […]
Parshas Emor
Rabbi Berel Wein We can all agree that the priestly family of Aharon has always had a special rank and position within the Jewish people. Having been chosen to represent G-d to the Jewish people and the Jewish people to G-d, so to speak, they had a decisive role of influence within Jewish life. Because […]
Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim
Rabbi Berel Wein Among the many commandments and values that are represented in this week’s double parsha, special attention seems to being paid to the intimate and marital relationships between people. The Torah lists for us those relationships which are considered to be incestuous, immoral, and forbidden. There is perhaps no area of human behavior […]
