The Library

This 15 minute talk will take you on a journey from the 10 plagues in Mitzrayim, through Kriyas Yam Suf, and all the way until Kabalas HaTorah.

"When we became addicts, crushed by a Self-Imposed Crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either G-d is everything or else He is nothing. G-d either is or He isn't. What was our choice to be?" (Big Book, Page 53) בא אל פרעה...

I remember hearing a powerful story about Reb Moshe Leib M'Sosov who's yartzeit was this past week I think. It was on a Parshas Bo that Reb Moishe Leib was in Lizensk for shabbos as a guest of R' Elimelech. During the seuda he got up to say a vort on the parsha. The off...

ליל שימורים הוא להשם Amalek is determined to destroy klal yisrael. One of his primary weapons is to contaminate their personal holiness, the os bris kodesh. אשר קרך בדרך, from the same root as קרי, as Rashi says on that pasuk. Hashem says אין השם שלם ואין הכסא שלם, His Na...

The sedra starts with 'come to pharoh because I have hardened his heart.' Wouldn't it have been better to say 'go' rather than 'come.' And why is the hardening of the heart a reason to go, surely it's a reason to not bother?! The word 'oilam' comes from the word 'ne'elom'...

In Parshas Shemos, the Degel Machaneh Ephraim taught that a person should elevate the machshavos zaros (strange and evil thoughts) that come to him. Regarding this topic, one commenter asked how we should practically go about elevating these thoughts. Last night, I learne...

G-d tells Moses to instruct the Israelites on the mitzvah of redeeming the first-born. Instead of doing so, Moses tells them to always remember the enslavement in Egypt and the Exodus, and only thereafter dictates the mitzvah of redeeming the first-born (Exodus13:1-15). ...

G-d said to Moses, I will take the Jews out from "Sivlus Mitzrayim". The word "Sivlus" means to "suffer" and "endure", but it also means to "tolerate" and "bear". The Sfas Emes explains, that in order for G-d to take the Jews out of Mitzrayim, they had to want to leave Mi...

This Shabbos is perhaps the most powerful Shabbos of Shovavim since we read about Yetzias Mitzrayim. In a spiritual sense, everyone of us is given a chance this Shabbos to leave the Mitzrayim of the Yetzer Hara behind us once and for all. I heard an adam Gadol speak this ...

Join the Worldwide YEshiva Shovavim Initiative at shovavim.org - "YES we can!" Here's a nice vort for the Shabbos table, as well as a profound understanding into our struggle with the Yetzer Hara. It is not for nothing that these Parshios of "leaving Mitzrayim" were chos...

The first Mitzvah is that of Kiddush Hachodesh. The posuk says 'Lachem' which signifies that we have control over setting the month. What is the significance of this Mitzvah as the first Mitzvah given? The answer is in relation to the issue of time. A slave is not in cont...

I heard a good vort at shiur yesterday which gave me a lot of chizuk, especially in regard to our struggles.The first Mitzvah that was given to Klal Yisroel is in this week's sidrah is the Mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh. However, the first Mitzvah that involved an 'action' is th...