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Reb Zusha of Anipol, the student of the Baal Shem Tov used to tell his students: When I come to Heaven and they ask me “Why weren’t you like Avraham Avinu?” I will answer: “because I wasn’t Avraham.” If they inquire: “Why didn’t you match the greatness of Moshe Rabbeinu?” I can answer that I […]

In the late 1700s, a wedding took place near Mezebush, a town in Ukraine, and the Mesader Kiddushin was none other than the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidus. The Baal Shem Tov arrives at the wedding and is standing under the chuppah, ready to begin. All of a sudden a wagon that was […]

One of the hallmarks of agricultural society in Israel is the concept of Terumos and Maasros, that a farmer — or any person who purchases produce in Eretz Yisrael — is required to separate percentages of produce to give to the Kohein, the Levi, the poor, and even sometimes take it to Yerushalayim to consume […]

IIt is a concept that Jewish children learn when they are young, and that we even learn to sing in the tefillah of Yigdal: לא קם בישראל כמשה עוד נביא ומביט את תבונתו There never arose among the Jewish People a prophet and seer of Hashem’s likeness like Moshe. This is a paraphrase of the […]

This week, we are introduced to a beautiful section of the Torah that describes the responsibility we all have to take care of each other financially, the mitzvos of Tzedaka and Lending money. And in the context of this discussion, the Torah has a number of times when it uses double-language to emphasize the importance […]

This week, we are introduced to one of the most famous texts in all of Judaism, the first paragraph of שְׁמַע. Among many lessons taught in the שְׁמַע, is the mitzvah of teaching Torah to our children:  וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ: (פּרק ו פּסוק ז) You should teach it […]

We have become accustomed to hearing quite often during this time of year, that the first בית המקדש was destroyed because עם ישראל was involved in the three cardinal sins – immoral relationships, murder, and idolatry. And the second בית המקדש was destroyed because of שנאת חנם. During the times of the second בית המקדש there was an explosion of Torah learning, people were […]

Shai Agnon was an Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer, and really one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In 1966, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. At that time, he was asked about his birthplace. To the interviewer’s surprise, Agnon answered that he was born in Jerusalem. The interviewer pointed out that […]