“…All the days of his separation, he is holy to G-od…” – Bamidbar 6:8 כֹּל יְמֵי נִזְרוֹ קָדֹשׁ הוּא לַה’ – במדבר ו, ח A nazir is an individual who chooses to dedicate himself to G-d, by vowing to abstain (usually for a limited period of time) from wine or any grape products, from cutting his hair, and from defiling himself […]

“…Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel…” – Bamidbar 1:2 שְׂאוּ אֶת רֹאשׁ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – במדבר א, ב According to Jewish law, if a mixture contains two components, and one is minute in comparison to the other, we regard the smaller component (under certain conditions) as negligible and insignificant. For example, if […]

“…And all the people saw the sounds and the flames, the sound of the shofar, and the smoking mountain; and the people saw and trembled, and they stood from afar…” – Shemos 20:15 וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת וְאֶת הַלַּפִּידִם וְאֵת קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר וְאֶת הָהָר עָשֵׁן וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנֻעוּ וַיַּעַמְדוּ מֵרָחֹק – שמות כ, טו From the Torah’s depiction of […]

Duration of class: 42:37          

A big question was asked by three sages, and the question was: “What is the most important and/or powerful Mitzvah one can do?” – the answer is the secret for our success – find out in this class what was the answer… Duration of class: 56:20              

“… Six cities of refuge shall serve for you…” – Bamidbar 35:13 שֵׁשׁ עָרֵי מִקְלָט תִּהְיֶינָה לָכֶם – במדבר לה, יג The Sefer Hachinuch enumerates six mitzvos that are obligatory constantly; “their obligation does not depart from the person for a single moment throughout his lifetime.” These are: 1) To believe in G‑d. 2) Not to believe in any power […]

“…Command the Bnei Yisrael and say to them: When you arrive in the land of Canaan, this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its borders…” – Bamidbar 34:2 צַו אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כִּי אַתֶּם בָּאִים אֶל הָאָרֶץ כְּנָעַן זֹאת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תִּפֹּל לָכֶם בְּנַחֲלָה אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן לִגְבֻלֹתֶיהָ […]

“…If a man makes a vow… he shall not profane his word…” – Bamidbar 30:3 אִישׁ כִּי יִדֹּר נֶדֶר . . לֹא יַחֵל דְּבָרוֹ – במדבר ל, ג The Torah expresses the prohibition of violating your vows with the words, לֹא יַחֵל דְּבָרוֹ. Rashi explains that the Hebrew word יַחֵל is akin to the word יְחַלֵּל, and should be understood […]

“…And Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes of Bnei Israel…” – Bamidbar 30:2 וַיְדַבֵּר משֶׁה אֶל רָאשֵׁי הַמַּטּוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – במדבר ל, ב The Torah refers to the tribes of Bnei Yisrael here as מטות, matos, each individual tribe called a mateh. Elsewhere, the tribes are called shevatim, each tribe known as a sheivet. Mateh and sheivet are […]

After naming the families of the tribe of Reuven that would enter the Land of Israel, the Torah recounts that Dasan and Aviram (who were from the tribe of Reuven) perished along with Korach when they incited a rebellion against Moshe and were swallowed by the earth. The Torah then notes that the sons of Korach did not die in […]

“…Pinchas son of Elazar, the son of Aharon the kohen, has turned My anger away from Bnei Yisrael by his zealously avenging Me among them, so that I did not destroy Bnei Yisrael because of My zeal…” – Bamidbar 25:11 פִּינְחָס בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן הֵשִׁיב אֶת חֲמָתִי מֵעַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת קִנְאָתִי בְּתוֹכָם וְלֹא כִלִּיתִי אֶת בְּנֵי […]

A deadly plague broke out among Bnei Yisrael, punishing them for sinning with the daughters of Moav and worshipping their gods. Meanwhile, Zimri, the leader of the tribe of Shimon, publicly took a Midianite princess into his tent. Moshe and the elders were stunned.  Pinchas, remembering what Moshe had taught regarding such a situation, entered Zimri’s tent, caught him in […]

A big question was asked by three sages, and the question was: “What is the most important and/or powerful Mitzvah one can do?” – the answer is the secret for our success – find out in this class what was the answer… Duration of class: 56:20              

 A deathly plague was spreading among Bnei Yisrael, killing thousands of people. Meanwhile, Zimri, the leader of the tribe of Shimon, took a Midianite princess into his tent. Moshe, Elazar and the elders of Bnei Yisrael all witnessed Zimri’s brazen act, but were at a loss of how to respond. Pinchas, who had no previous position of importance, remembered what […]

Duration of class: 1:07:59              

“…The entire house of Israel wept for Aharon for thirty days…” – Bamidbar 20:29 וַיִּבְכּוּ אֶת אַהֲרֹן שְׁלשִׁים יוֹם כֹּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל – במדבר כ, כט The Torah emphasizes that Aharon’s passing was mourned by the entire Jewish nation. The Midrash (Avos d’Rabbi Nosson 12:3) explains that Aharon was particularly beloved upon the people because he was active in restoring […]

“…They shall take to you a perfectly red heifer…” – Bamidbar 19:2 וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה תְּמִימָה – במדבר יט, ב The ashes of the Parah Adumah were used for the ritual purification of people or articles that contracted impurity from a dead corpse. In order to remove this impurity, the Parah Adumah must also undo to some degree the […]

“…They shall take to you a perfectly red heifer…” – Bamidbar 19:2 וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה תְּמִימָה – במדבר יט, ב The Torah commands us to prepare the ashes of a parah adumah, a red heifer, for use in the ritual purification of people or articles that contracted impurity from a dead corpse. The Torah attributes this mitzvah to Moshe, […]

So many Mitzvot (commandments) we do not understand why we do them and/or what is the reason for that Mitzvah, such as Kosher, Mikve, red heifer and much more. In this weeks Torah portion we can learn a bit why Duration of class: 57:26              

“…The entire congregation are holy, every one of them, and G-d is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the assembly of G-d?”…” – Bamidbar 16:3 כִּי כָל הָעֵדָה כֻּלָּם קְדשִׁים וּבְתוֹכָם ה’ וּמַדּוּעַ תִּתְנַשְּׂאוּ עַל קְהַל ה’ – במדבר טז, ג The Midrash (Tanchuma, Korach 2) relates that Korach challenged Moshe, “If a house is full […]