R’ Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of R’ Yonatan:
The name Bezalel indicates his wisdom, for when Hashem told Moshe to tell Bezalel to make a Mishkan, an Aron, and the other vessels, Moshe reversed the order and said to him, “Make an Aron and the vessels and the Mishkan.” Bezalel then said
I once asked a very successful businessman who was dedicated to his business, in addition to many passion projects, how he doesn’t get pulled into the passion projects full-time. I guess the answer is in the question. One must prioritize their financial soundness and only then give time to their passion projects. Differentiating between
In Parshat Vayakhel, Moshe gathers all of Bnei Yisrael to speak with them. The first part of his speech was how we should keep Shabbat and not do work. While talking about Shabbat, Moshe was only specific about one aspect, that no one can spark a fire on Shabbat. From the simple meaning of the text, it sounds like we only can’t start a
A Jewish woman went to India on what seemed to be a spiritual quest. She traveled a great distance to get to this ashram to see if she could get a meeting with the head guru. The woman was told by the attendant that the guru was a very busy man who spent most of his day in meditation, and that she would have to wait three days to see him
By Chaim
Much ink has been spilled, many pens have been broken and significant vitriol has been vented over the debate regarding proposed changes to the State of Israel’s conversion protocol. Sadly, the issue has pitted against each other rabbanim and leaders associated not
The circumstances were dire. Weeks after pledging allegiance to Hashem we debased ourselves, frolicking around a calf fashioned from gold. The crashing sounds at Sinai announced a bold, new message: God had no face and wasn’t physical or visual. Sadly, we corrupted this powerful idea by bowing to a human-sculpted creature.
One of Tanach’s most astonishing anthropomorphisms describes the way that Moshe communicates with God: “And God spoke to Moshe face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Shemot 33:11). This singular relationship is so seminal to Moshe’s life that it appears again at the end of the Torah in its encapsulation of Moshe’s
In this week’s parsha of Ki Tisa we read that shortly after witnessing the miracles of liberation from Egypt and seeing the Torah being given on Mount Sinai, the Jewish people erected a golden calf idol and were having a party worshiping it. Indeed, when Moshe comes down from receiving the Torah after 40 days, Yehoshua asks him what the
Sam Zeitlin loved cycling as a kid and dreamed of being in the Olympics. He joined the American National Cycling Team, and he aced the competitions. Although Sam was not a religious Jew, he was concerned he would not be chosen to move ahead just because he was Jewish. He decided to go to Israel and join the cycling team there, and indeed,
Rebellion! “Go down from the mountain and witness your nation merrily dance before a golden calf!” said God (Shemot. 32:19). Chaos and mayhem engulfed the camp as Moshe descended into a spiritual abyss! The irascible shock culminated in an act of unbridled anger as Moshe took
The Gemara in Shabbat 119b teaches us that there is a power we have when we say Amen. When the Jewish people say Amen, which is an acronym for ק-ל מלך נאמן, God, trustworthy/reliable king, and say it with the right intention, they will be forgiven by Hashem. In this week’s parsha we see how saying Amen causes annulment for a