Fascinating weekly parshah posts
It happened one Yom Tov that the Sfas Emes, venerated leader of the Gerrer Chassidic dynasty, shared an observation with his followers about Hallel, an important aspect of the day’s observance. He singled out a particular supplication, stating that by reciting “Ana” properly, one can catalyze wondrous effects in the Upper Realms. However, an issue arose the next morning during the time of Hallel’s recital. For there [...]
At the beginning of this week’s parshah, the Torah informs us of the origins of the names of Moshe’s two sons: שֵׁם הָאֶחָד גֵּרְשֹׁם כִּי אָמַר גֵּר הָיִיתִי בְּאֶרֶץ נָכְרִיָּה, וְשֵׁם הָאֶחָד אֱלִיעֶזֶר כִּי־אֱלֹהֵי אָבִי בְּעֶזְרִי וַיַּצִּלֵנִי מֵחֶרֶב פַּרְעֹה – “The name of the one of them was Gershom, for (Moshe) said: ‘I was a stranger (ger) in a foreign land.’ And the name of the other was Eliezer – ‘For the G-d [...]
(The following halachic analysis regarding the practice of reclining during the Pesach Seder is based largely on an exposition from the sefer Yerach L’mo’adim, Pesach, vol. I, § 44.) The tenth chapter of maseches Pesachim outlines the procedure followed at the Pesach Seder, and one of the first items it mentions is the practice of reclining. As the Mishnah states (10:1): וַאֲפִלּוּ עָנִי שֶׁבְּיִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יֹאכַל עַד שֶׁיָּסֵב. “Every member [...]
There appears to be a discrepancy regarding the timing of the climactic plague, Makkas Bechoros (Plague of the Firstborn). When Moshe announces the upcoming event in this week’s parshah, he avoids pinpointing a specific time, merely stating instead that it would occurכַּחֲצֹת הַלַּיְלָה – “around midnight” (Shemos 11:4). When relating the actual execution, however, the Torah does employ exactitude in the matter, as it states: וַיְהִי בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַד' הִכָּה כָל־בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם – “And [...]
Perhaps one of the most familiar, cherished aspects of the Seder night and the Exodus narrative in general is the topic of the Esser Makkos, the Ten Plagues that Hashem visited upon the Egyptians. But as the Ramchal famously states in the introduction to his classic work Mesilas Yesharim: “Together with universal familiarity... comes also a lack of scrutiny and deep understanding” [paraphrased]. While so many of us are [...]
When we contemplate the “olden times,” we may do so with a sense of ambivalence. On the one hand, we tend to look with astonishment on the backwardness and inconveniences that characterized life back then, without the technological advances of modern times. On the other hand, the world seemed to have possessed a certain wholesomeness and innocence that appears so elusive in our “sophisticated” society. Perhaps reflective [...]
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