The Library

V'dishnu ess hamizbei'ach, And they shall remove the ashes from the Mizbei'ach (7:14)While traveling in the desert, all the keilim of the Mishkan were covered with designated cloth coverings. The mizbeiach was covered with a covering of purple/indigo died wool. The fire t...

Rav Chaim Shmulevitz says in Sichos Mussar that we can learn a tremendous lesson from the fact that the Levi'im were counted separately. Rashi says (1:49) that H'shm foresaw that He would decree death against the 20- to 60-year-olds that were counted in this week's parsha...

Ki im l'sh'eiro hakarov eilav.Ein sh'eiro ella ishto.(Rashi)The Torah is teaching us that a wife ideally should be the CLOSEST person to ourselves! Even closer than our fathers & mothers! **** V'ish ki yochal kodesh bishgaga... V'hisiu osam avon ashma b'achlam ess kad...

I saw a mind blowing Chazal today that can provide tremendous chizzuk to all of us that are struggling or that fell in the past. The Torah tells us that while a Cohen is permitted to marry a widow, a Cohen Gadol, however, is forbidden. The question is why. I saw brought d...

In this week's Parsha we learn about the animals, fish, insects, and birds that we may not eat. The Torah describes them as "Toeiva" - an abomination. We are taught that by eating these things we are destroying our Neshamos, and the damage is very great. Why is it that th...

We know "sheva yipol tzaddik v'kum". To fall seven times you have to have been up in between. The possuk tells us don't worry you will eventually stand without falling. But what about someone who remains on the ground the whole time. For where does he know that there is h...

Adam ki yakriv meekem korban Lashem min habehemahAdam ki yakriv, a person who wishes to come close to the RBSO, should look at a korban and learn about his own ability. Any person who declares an animal he owns to be a korban, instantly transforms that animal into kodesh ...

I saw a wonderful insight from Rabbi Galinsky Zt"l which is very relevant to our struggles. We all know the Baal Haturim (even if we didn't know that it was the Baal Haturim who says it) why Vayikra is written with a small aleph. Explains the Baal Haturim that when Moshe...

The concept of the Mishkan is an astounding one. How can a structure of any size house Hashem in it? How can we attempt to contain the uncontainable? Yet it symbolizes Hashgacha, involvement of Hashem in our physical world. We live in a world with physical houses in which...

The Talmud tells a story. Rabbi Tarphon was ill and his very important friends, Rabbi Akiva, Rabban Gamliel and others, came to visit. They met his mother at the door crying. She pleaded with the Tzaddikim to “please pray for her son Tarphon - he is such a good son.” She ...

The Kapores & its Keruvim were not fashioned as separate pieces and soldered together. Rather, they took a large chunk of gold & started banging at its core. The gold piles at the ends grew higher & higher and they sculpted them into the Keruvim. These Keruvim...

"Vechen taasu," Rashi: "im yoivad oy keshetaaseh klei bais olamim." The Torah is giving instructions how to create a place where the Shechinah will rest, how to construct the necessary components. The Torah is telling you from the very beginning that you might need to fix...

Dear Friends, The Mishkan, and subsequently the Bais Hamikdosh, represents Klal Yisroel in the most unified state. “The Mishkon is One”, referenced in our Parshah, right after the phrase of “connecting her to her sister” implies a unity, a building of a great home for a u...

The ultimate moment of glory for the Jewish people — their greatest hour — occurred as God revealed His Torah to them at Mount Sinai. The Israelites made an amazing proclamation: Na'aseh VeNishma — "We will do and we will listen to all that God has declared" (Ex. 24:7). T...

וישמע יתרו כהן מדין את כל אשר עשה וגומר מה שמועה שמע ובא? קריאת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק, רש"י Why does Rashi ask what Yisro heard? the pasuk says he heard everything that Hashem did to the Mitzriyim. The Jews experienced at Krias Yam Suf things that nevi'im did not experience....

Vayishma Yisro - Yisro heard. Yisro heard about K'riyas Yam Suf & the victory over Amalek. Vaysaper Moshe l'chasno... - And Moshe described to his Father-in-Law To draw his heart, to bring him nearer to Torah (Rashi)ess kol hatla'ah asher metza'asam baderech-all the ...

Hashem cares for all our needs, but He asks us not to eat from just one tree: 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die.' But when...

Chazal tell us that the sea split in the merit of Yosef Hatzadik. What is the connection between running away from zenus and klal yisroel meriting to go through, why should one have a bearing on the other? I think a possible explanation is that klal yisroel were in danger...