Balak 5778

 “Whoever has these three traits is of the students of our father Avraham, and [whoever has] three other (i.e. opposite) traits is [a student] of Bilaam the wicked: [one who has] a good outlook, a humble spirit and a meek soul is of the students of our father Avraham. [One who has] a negative outlook, a haughty spirit, and a greedy soul is among the students of Bilaam the wicked.

(Pirkei Avot 5:22)

Clean Language

As the elevator doors opened, Sarah carefully lifted the garbage bag that was resting at her feet. Mindful to not tear the bag, Sarah walked a few steps down the sidewalk, in the direction of the communal dumpster.

Chukat 5778

“…and it was that if a snake had bitten a person…”
(Bamidbar 21:9)

Lawn and Order

Nachum opened the door to his house, walked into the living room, and sank down into his favorite arm chair. After a full day at work, and a long ride on the train, he was pleased to have a few minutes of quiet, to himself.

Nachum was startled by the sound of someone pounding on the door. “Help! Help!” called a voice from the other side.

Korach 5778 - Lubavitcher Rebbe story

 Last week we sent out a story that was not translated into english. Attached are photos and an audio of the amazing story, which was sent to us by Rav Mendy Mochkin, from Canada.

Korach 5778

“Separate from amidst this assembly…”

(Bamidbar 15:21)

We learn from this that all components of prayer which sanctify the name of G-d should be recited amidst a quorum of men. (Gemara Megilla 23b)

Quorum Forum

(From Igrot Kodesh section 11, 3645)

Sh'lach 5778

“…and they found a man gathering wood on the day of Shabbat”

(Bamidbar 15:32)

Emergency Recall 

(From Shu”t Harav Harashi, pg. 329)

Shmuel woke up from his Shabbat nap, and slowly sat up in bed. Suddenly, he felt as if he could barely breathe! Desperately, he gasped “Yehuda! Doctor!” His son was immediately at his side. He took one look at Shmuel, and ran to the phone to call an ambulance.

B'haalotcha 5778

"ותדבר מרים ואהרן במשה על אדות..." – מפרשה זו אנו למדים שאסורו הוא אפילו אם האיש שדיבר עליו לשון הרע הוא איש ענו ושפל רוח, ואינו מקפיד על מה שדיבר עליו, שלכך נסמך הפסוק והאיש משה ענו מאד

(שמירת הלשון ח"ב, על פרשת בהעלותך)

The Permission Slip

Yossi and David have been friends for as long as anyone can remember. They’ve spent hours reading the same books together, playing the same games together, and engaging in their favorite activity: telling jokes.

Naso 5778

“The Kohen shall write these curses on a scroll and erase it into the bitter waters”

(Bamidbar 5:23)

"The name of G-d, which is written in holiness, is erased on the water in order to make peace between a man and his wife"

(Chullin kama 1)

"Because the water checks the sotah, and if she is found innocent, it causes peace between them"

(Rashi on Sukkah 53)

Guest Work

One evening, Chaim was on his way home, when a man he didn’t know came running up to him. “Reb Yid, do you think you could do me a favor?” the man began. “Upstairs, in my apartment, there is an engagement party taking place. If you walked past the door of my apartment, you wouldn’t believe it though.

Shavuot 5778

כתוב בשולחן ערוך האר"י ז"ל:

"דע שכל מי שבליל שבועות לא ישן כלל ועקר והיה עוסק בתורה, מבטח לו שישלים שנתו ולא יארע לו שום נזק" 

(משנה ברורה סי' תצ"ד, ס"ק א)

Going the Extra Mile…

Yaakov stepped onto the bus, elated but exhausted. He sank into his seat, and thought back to the wonderful chag of Shavuot that had just ended. He had stayed up the whole night before, learning Torah with his friends. He smiled at the thought of the animated discussions and the feelings of excitement that had permeated the beit midrash. Now that Shavuot was over, he was heading back to his parents’ house in Netanya. He leaned his head back against the seat, and closed his eyes, letting the happy memories replay themselves in his mind.

b'chukotai 5778

"אם בחקתי תלכו"

רש"י: "שתהיו עמלים בתורה"

A Visit to a Dying Parent

An interesting question was asked of Rav Asher Weiss Shlita:

A few years ago, Dovid made aliyah, got married and began to study in a Jerusalem kollel.  He hurried to the kollel every morning to study with his chavruta (study partner). The two pored over the texts in the Talmud, engaging and analyzing till late at night. This went on

Behar 5778

"לא תונו איש את עמיתו" - באונאת דברים. 

הא כיצד? אם היה בעל תשובה אל יאמר לו: זכור מעשיך הראשונים; אם היה בן גרים אל יאמר לו: זכור מעשה אבותיך; אם היה גר ובא ללמוד תורה אל יאמר לו: פה שאכל נבילות וטריפות, שקצים ורמשים בא ללמוד תורה שנאמרה מפי הגבורה...

(בבא מציעא דף נח עמוד ב)

The “Goalie”

If you passed Meni on the street today you would see a religious looking man running to his evening kollel. Perhaps, you might see him wheeling his two small children to the nursery school. It’s not easy to imagine that this wasn’t always his life…