Torah

Rabbi Meir Yedid speaks at Lev

Rabbi Meir Yedid speaks. May 2018.

Halacha · Torah

Rabbi Mansour speaks at Lev

Listen to Rabbi Mansour speak at Lev May 2018.

Halacha · Torah

Stop! Think…. What is Reality?

Articles · Torah

Magen Avraham

Many people have necklaces, amulets and trinkets in the shape of a 6 pointed star known as “Magen David”, the shield of David. There are various sources for this and traditionally it is said to have adorned the actual shield of King David’s soldiers as they went to battle. The 6 points symbolize Hashem’s presence …

Articles · Torah

Chacham David Yosef Shlita

Chacham David Yosef’s Speech at the Living a life of Torah Yeshiva Seminar

Articles · Torah

Willing to receive

A number of years ago, a respected, frum, married man started experiencing some difficulties in his life. He approached one of my Rebbes to seek his advice. As part of his advice, my Rebbe instructed him to work on his marriage. The man objected, saying “Rebbe I have so much to learn, so many things …

Articles · Torah

Praise and Prayer

For years and years, a homeless peddler sat on a street corner in Manhattan selling pencils for a dime. Every day, a wealthy banker passed by, took out a dime from his pocket and placed it in the man’s bucket without ever taking a pencil. Day in day out, never uttering a word or taking …

Parasha · Torah

Tests: The Essence of Judaism

The parasha begins this week with the beginning of our foundation. If you were to write the Bible, how would you start off the beginning of the Jewish People’s foundation? Our Parasha goes through some beginning events and challenges. The first challenge is to “Go”: ‘Go’ from your home town, ‘Go’ when there is famine, ‘Go’ when …

Parasha · Torah

Pesach from the Lev of Yerushalayim

Dear Friends, ‍We are pleased to present you with a special publication compiled by our Rabbis and alumni just for you. As Pesach is approaching, and as our world has been thrust into turbulence, Divrei Torah, Chizzuk and perspective will help us to harness this time for growth. We hope you and your family enjoy …

Holidays · Torah

Shavuot: The Holiday of Preparation

מתן תורה –יום החמישים In פרשת אמור, פרק כ”ג, the torah states in reference to date of שבועות: “וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת… תספרו חמשים יום והקרבתם מנחה חדשה לה’… וקראתם בעצם היום הזה מקרא קדש יהיה לכם כל מלאכת עבדה לא תעשו”. The תורה doesn’t give a specific calendar date for שבועות to be held, but …

Holidays · Torah

על הניסים

The רמ”א tells us that if we forget to say על הניסים in bentching, we should insert it at the end of bentching before הרחמן הוא יזכנו. The רמ”א says that instead of beginning with the words “על הניסים”, we should say, “הרחמן הוא יעשה לנו נסים ונפלאותכאשר עשה לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה”, and then continue בימי מתתיהו. The אחרונים ask on the רמ”א’s נוסח- לכאורה it’s problem to ask ה’ to …

Holidays · Torah

Lessons From Why We Read Megillas Ruth On Shavuot

The רמ”א in סימן תצ’ of Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, quotes the words of the Avudraham. The Avudraham says that we have the custom to read the story of Ruth on the holiday of Shavuos[1]. The obvious question is- why? Why read the story of Ruth specifically on Shavuos? What is the connection? There are several …

Holidays · Torah

Insights from the Beit Yosef’s question

Perhaps the most famous question about the holiday of chanukah was posed by the בית יוסף in his commentary on the טור Tur siman 670. The Talmud says in masechet Shabbat 21b that after defeating the Yevanim, the Maccabees found only one intact jug of olive oil with which to light the menorah in the …

Holidays · Torah

Why is Chametz forbidden on Passover?

Passover is a holiday celebrated in the month of Nissan. This is the time of the year that the Jews, thousands of years ago, were freed from hundreds of years of slavery in Mitzrayim. The torah states that it is forbidden to eat chametz during the week of the holiday of Passover (Shemos 12:15). The …

Holidays · Torah

It’s All in Hashem’s Hands

The Torah commands us to blow nine shofar sounds on Rosh Hashanah. The Mitzvah is to blow three sets, each consisting of a Tekiya, followed by a Teruah and concluding with a Tekiya. The Rabbis of the Mishnah were in dispute as to how the “Teruah” sounds. In order to “cover all our bases” we blow thirty sounds reflecting …

Holidays · Torah

Is Purim on a higher level than Yom Kippur?

There is a famous statement of the ARI’ZL (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, a sage who lived in the 1500’s and studied the mystical aspects of the torah) which states that the hebrew words “Yom Kippurim יום כיפורים contain an allusion to Purim. If we break down the word Kippurim כפורים into a shorter word that is introduced by a …

Holidays · Torah

Is Purim an independent holiday?

Many people think that the holiday of Purim is an independent chag unrelated to other Jewish holidays. They assume that the celebration of Purim relates only to the story of Mordechai, Esther, and Haman. However in researching the essence of this chag, I discovered that in fact Purim has important connections to other jewish holidays, …

Holidays · Torah

זכר למחצית השקל

זכר למחצית השקל The רמ”א in תרצ”ד brings the מרדכי who says we should give 3 half shekels on ערב פורים. The reason to give 3, explains the רמ”א, is that it says the word “תרומה” 3 times in פרשת כי תשא. רש”י there explains that these 3 “תרומה”s correspond to 3 different collections: 1. The …

Holidays · Torah

Ahavat Hanes

“אהבת הנס” The גמרא in שבת פח. says that at the time of מתן תורה, ד’ forced כלל ישראל into accepting the Torah. The גמרא describes how ד’ suspended הר סיני over the Jews”כפה עליהם הר כגיגית” and threatened them with destruction if they wouldn’t accept the תורה. The גמרא there goes on to say …

Holidays · Torah

קימו וקיבלו

The גמרא in שבת פח. says that at the time of מתן תורה, ד’ forced כלל ישראל to accept the תורה, “כפה עליהם הר כגיגית”. ד’ suspended הר סיני above the Jews and threatened them with being crushed unless they agreed to take the תורה. The מדרש תנחומא (נח:ג’) asks: כלל ישראל had previously proclaimed “נעשה …

Holidays · Torah