Torah Tidbits
The Multi-faceted Super-Mitzva
It’s not Shabbesdik! This is a concept that many of us grew up with. There was no specific statement in Shulchan Aruch to point to and say, this is why we should not do such- and-such. But there was a feeling that certain behavior, certain acts, shouldn’t be done on Shabbat. Some Jews scoff at this idea. Sad. Because they are missing something.
Continue ReadingLesson from Yehoshua
HaRav Shlomo Goren z"l told the story of a meeting of army generals with David Ben Gurion, which took place in the early days of the State. One general proposed that there be a separate division of the army for religious soldiers. This division would adhere to the laws of Kashrut, Shabbat, etc. and the “rest of the army” would be able to conduct itself otherwise. It was not Rav Goren who responded; it was Ben Gurion. We are one people and we have one army.
Continue ReadingSedra Stats - Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
K’doshim’s 51 mitzvot earn it 5th place on the Mitzva Chart. But if we take into account sedra size, it rises to first place, by far.
Continue ReadingAliyah by Aliyah - Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
The first part of the sedra deals with the Yom Kippur service in the Beit HaMikdash - Seder HaAvoda. An emotional element is introduced when the Torah tells us that G-d gave these commands “after the deaths of Aharon’s two sons”. We cannot help but be struck by the combination of the Kohen Gadol performing the loftiest of spiritual tasks with the background of personal grief.
Continue ReadingThe Halachot of Women & Men: Kohanim and whom they may not marry
According to strict halacha, if a kohen married any of the foregoing he must divorce her. Even if there is a “scent of a divorce (get)”: that she had from a prior marriage he must divorce her. A “scent of a get” is defined as a woman whose prior marriage has been terminated by her husband giving her a get that stated “you are divorced from me, but you are not permitted to marry any other man.”
Continue ReadingWisdom & Wit
R’ Mordechai Bennet was already an old man when he met the Chasam Sofer at a summer resort. While they were there, R’ Mordechai received an urgent letter regarding a woman who was an aguna - a woman abandoned by her husband - and without a divorce or proof of his death, she could not remarry.
Continue ReadingParshaPix
Kohen Gadol and two identical goats, Shabbat candles, B’samim…. how would you explain these pictures?
Continue ReadingThis too, even more so
Anyone who feels the pain of Aharon’s devastating loss of his two sons and sheds tears over it, HaShem will decree for such a person, atonement for his sins…
Continue ReadingFrom K'doshim To Bava Kama
The verse in our portion of K’DOSHIM (19:11) warns us not to steal - LO TIGNOVU. The word TIGNOV refers to stealing secretly. Some examples include shoplifting, pickpocketing, using an item that someone asked you to watch without getting explicit permission, and using things at work that belong to the employer such as pencils and paper…Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar - chocolate chip cookies…
Continue ReadingParsha Points to Ponder - Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
Why does the Torah teach not to perform acts like the LAND OF EGYPT and THE LAND OF CANAAN instead of focusing on the people who lived in those lands?
Continue ReadingVebbe Rebbe - Praying in a Dirty Place
I am part of a group of around 10 Jewish prison inmates (some, like me, are studying for conversion). Our cells (5’ x 9’) have a toilet in them and during the time for Shacharit and Ma’ariv, I am not able to get out. Can I put on my tallit and pray at that time, in a “dirty place”, or is it an abomination to Hashem? Our rabbi died a few years ago, and we don’t have anyone to answer our questions any more.
Continue ReadingChizuk & Idud - Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
As R. Shimshon Raphael Hirsch points out, every person (“adam”) who comes from the earth (“adama”) is rejected by it, should he defile it. For example, this is what happened in the time of No’ach. However, Eretz Yisrael, the chosen land, has a special relationship with B’nei Yisrael, the chosen people.
Continue ReadingMy Servant Moshe [2]
Moshe protests his reluctance and unsuitability for prophecy and in every story of our prophets, the very first revelations are likewise accompanied by attempts to evade the calling; prophecy was not a career to be pursued.
Continue ReadingDivrei Menachem - Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
After teaching us about the prohibition to eat blood - that seems to touch us to our very core - parshat Acharei instructs us not to perform the practices of the peoples of Egypt and Canaan or to follow their traditions…
Continue ReadingSaving a Life or Stopping a Pursuer?
Last week we saw the Mishna that states that before the child is born we can abort him in order to save the mother’s life, but once he is born or even the majority of the body is out of the mother then we cannot touch him since we do not push off one soul before another. This suggests that the unborn fetus is not considered alive and only receives the soul at birth.
Continue ReadingIn This Issue of Torah Tidbits
- Lead Tidbit
- Guest Article
- Jewish Law
- Wisdom & Wit
- Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra Summary
- Sedra Stats
- Vebbe Rebbe
- Portion of the Portion
- Parsha Points to Ponder
- ParshaPix Explanations
- TTriddles "Report"
- Ethical Teachings of the Torah
- Chizuk and Idud
- Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
- Divrei Menachem
- "From Machon Puah"
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Sedra Stats
K’doshim’s 51 mitzvot earn it 5th place on the Mitzva Chart. But if we take into account sedra size, it rises to first place, by far.