In the tochechah, the curses in this week’s parsha of Ki Savo, there is a fascinating pasuk. “Yisa Hashem alecha goy mei’rachok mik’tzeh ha’aretz ka’asher yideh hanasher – Hashem will bring against you a nation from a distance, from...
We are now in the midst of the most critical month of the year: the month of Elul. It is the time that we have to prepare ourselves for the Day of Judgement, Rosh HaShanah, when our...
Incredibly, we are already in the thick of Elul. We know it is very serious, for we are taught in Yiddishkeit, “Hakol holeich achar ha’chasom – Everything goes after the finale.” Since Elul is the last month of...
At the recent Question & Answer session for the Irgun Shiurei Torah, (which you can see on TorahAnytime. com), I fielded the following question: Why would Hashem allow such a blatantly antisemitic mayoral candidate, like Zohran Mamdani, to succeed and...
In the Kedushah of Mussaf, we say in unison, “Mimikomo Hu yifen b’rachamav l’amo – From His place He turns to His Nation, V’yachon am hami’yachadim Shemo – And shows favor to His Nation that declares His Name Unique,...
With great relief, we’ve arrived at Shabbos Nachamu, 5785. The days of mourning are behind us and we experience a Shabbos Nachamu, a Shabbos of comfort, which falls this year on the very happy day of t’u b’Av, the...
As we head to Tisha b’Av, we are acutely aware that all the tragedies connected to the saddest day of the year have their root in the lashon hara spoken by the meraglim, the spies, who maligned Eretz...
In Masechtas Nedarim [81a], the Gemara cites a verse in Yirmiyah [9:11], “Mi ha-ish hechacham v’yavein es zos...
We are now in the midst of the sad calendar period known as the Three Weeks. In Hebrew, it is referred to as the period of Bein HaMetzorim, the time Between the Narrow Straights. This refers to the...
The subject of hishtadlus, how much effort should one make for certain objectives, is a very complex subject. Let’s take, for example, the hishtadlus for our parnassah, our livelihood. Quoting the Chovos HaLevovos, Rav Elya Lopian, zt”l, zy”a, says...