When Balak, king of Moav, saw that the great giants Sichon and Og fell to the Bnei Yisroel, he was filled with terror. These giants who were born before the Great Flood and had dinosaur-like dimensions (Sichon was...
In the eighth bracha of the Shemone Esrei we say, “Refa’einu Hashem v’neirafei – Cure us Hashem and we will be cured.” This phrasing contrasts Hashem’s medicine and human medicine. Often times, the human healer will succeed at taking away...
We now focus on the eighth bracha of the Shemone Esrei which starts out with the request Refa’einu, “Heal us Hashem and we will be healed.” The Gemora teaches us in Mashechtas Shabbos [32a], “Amar Rav Yitzchak b’rei d’Rav...
Last week, we started our discussion of the seventh bracha, R’eih v’anyeinu. We mentioned the opinion of Rashi who says the blessing refers to daily afflictions, a petition for redemption from present challenges rather than referring to the final redemption....
In the seventh bracha of the Shemone Esrei, we ask Hashem to notice our afflictions, fight our battles and redeem us for the sake of His Name. It seems that after asking Hashem for forgiveness in the sixth...
In last week’s article, we began an exploration of the connection between Megilas Rus and the yomtov of Shavuos. When we left off, we had just considered the famous dictum...
One of the special features of the wonderful Yom Tov of Shavuos is the reading of Megilas Rus. While it is a fascinating and delightful story, its linkage to the celebration of matan Torah, the giving of the...
After we pray for assistance to repent, we can now ask Hashem for forgiveness. It would be phony to petition for forgiveness before we show an attempt at repentance. Thus, we pray to Hashem, “Slach lonu Avinu, ki chatonu –...
In the fifth bracha of the Shemone Esrei, we ask Hashem, “Hashiveinu Avinu l’Sorosecha - Return us, Our Father, to Your Torah.” Since in the previous blessing we asked for knowledge, the first pursuit for which we want to...
The middle brachos of the Shemone Esrei are the petitions that we ask Hashem for the full gamut of our needs. The first petition, for knowledge, starts in a peculiar way. It is the only bracha of...