Torah Tidbits
Aliya by Aliya Sedra Summary
[P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicate start of a parsha p’tucha or s’tuma. X:Y is Perek:Pasuk of the beginning of the parsha; (Z) is the number of p’sukim in it.
Numbers in [square brackets] are the Mitzva-count of Sefer HaChinuch AND Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvot. A=ASEI (positive mitzva); L=LAV (prohibition). X:Y is the perek and pasuk from which the mitzva comes.
And He means LACHEM!
For this Lead Tidbit to do its job, we need your brain, imagination, and feelings all on alert. Imagine that we have a sitting and active Sanhedrin now. (May this imagining come to reality soon in our time and forever after.)
Continue ReadingTTriddles
are Torah Tidbits-style riddles on Parshat HaShavua (sometimes on the calendar). They are found in the hard-copy of TT scattered throughout, usually at the bottom of different columns. In the electronic versions of TT, they are found all together at the end of the ParshaPix-TTriddles section. The best solution set submitted each week (there isn’t always a best) wins a double prize a CD from Noam Productions and/or a gift (game, puzzle, book, etc.) from Big Deal
Continue ReadingDivrei Menachem
In this week’s parsha we are introduced to the first command given to the Jewish people as a whole while they were yet in Mitzrayim. Hashem says to Moshe and Aharon, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year” (Sh’mot 12:1-2).
Continue ReadingWhy Is the Blessing Made at Childbirth?
This week we continue discussing the lectures at the recent 13th Annual Puah Rabbinic Conference held in Jerusalem.
Continue ReadingDo not eat it raw or cooked in water...
There are many rules listed in our portion regarding Korban Pesach. Some of these laws only applied for the evening that the Jews actually left Egypt - such as “You must eat it with your waist belted, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand…” (12:11) Other laws that apply to how we must eat the Pascal lamb throughout the generations such as “Eat the sacrificial meat during the night, roasted over fire. Eat it with matza and bitter herbs” (12:8).
Continue ReadingParsha Points to Ponder
1) Why does G-D wait for the plague of locusts to explain that the Jews will tell their children and grandchildren about the plagues (10:2)?
2) Why does Moshe say that the mitzva of Korban Pesach applies only once the Jews enter the land of Israel (12:25) when we know that the Jews observed it in the desert?
3) Why does the Torah anticipate the question WHAT IS THIS SERVICE specifically about the Korban Pesach (12:26) and not any other sacrifices?
CHIZUK and IDUD for Olim not yet Olim respectively
The long awaited moment has finally arrived! The Jewish people are about to be redeemed from Egypt, and the date, the night of the 15th of Nisan, is coined for posterity as a “Leil Shimurim”, a night of safeguarding.
Continue ReadingVebbe Rebbe
The Orthodox Union - via its website - fields questions of all types in areas of kashrut, Jewish law and values. Some of them are answered by Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, headed by Rav Yosef Carmel and Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, founded by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l, to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious community in Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Yerushalayim Network, Eretz Hemdah… and the Israel Center. The following is a Q&A from Eretz Hemdah…
Continue ReadingWord of the Month
A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem…
Continue ReadingIn This Issue of Torah Tidbits
- Lead Tidbit
- Candle A Day
- Gold from the Land of Israel
- Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra Summary
- Sedra Stats
- How often does RH fall on Shabbat?
- Maharal on the Sedra
- Vebbe Rebbe
- Portion of the Portion
- Parsha Points to Ponder
- TTriddles "Report"
- Person In The Parsha
- Word of the Month
- Chizuk and Idud
- Unlocking the Torah Text
- Divrei Menachem
- "From Machon Puah"
Recent Torah Tidbits
- Issue 1043 - Shabbat Parshat B’har-B’chukotai - Shabbat M’vorchim
- Issue 1042 - Shabbat Parshat Emor
- Issue 1041 - Shabbat Parshat Acharei-K'Doshim
- Issue 1040 - Shabbat Parshat Tazri'a-M'tzora
- Issue 1039 - Shabbat Parshat Tzav-Hagadol-Shmini
- Issue 1038 - Shabbat Parshat Vayikra
- Issue 1037 - Shabbat Parshat Vayakhel-P'Kudei-Hachodesh
- View All Issue Archives
Candle Lighting and Havdala
Candle Lighting Sponsored By:
Sedra Stats
15th of the 54 sedras;
3rd of 11 in Sh’mot
Word of the Month
Take the Minhag Yerushalayim practice of saying Kiddush L’vana from 3 full days after the molad.
Many people mix that up with the days of the month and think that the first op is the 3rd or the 4th of the month. Not so. We count from the molad. This month, the molad was on Rosh Chodesh early morning. Three full days brought us to Tuesday morning, with the first op being Tuesday night, the eve of the 5th of Sh’vat. It might seem “late”, but it isn’t. The molad was “late” because of three 29-day months in a row.
###
HACHODESH HAZEH LACHEM
The Jewish Calendar is a special gift that G-d gave us, His People, on the occasion of the birth of the Nation.
In appreciation, we should take an interest in how the Calendar works. After all, it is OURS.
Here then are some basics of our fixed calendar (Plan B), in use until the restoration of a Sanhedrin and Plan A of Kiddush HaChodesh.
There are 14 year-types - 7 types of plain (12-month) years and 7 types of intercalated (13-month) years. Years are coded PEI for P’SHUTA or MEM for M’UBERET.
A second letter code indicates what day of the week the year started. Because of LO ADU ROSH, the code for day of the week will be a BET, GIMEL, HEI, or ZAYIN (for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Shabbat respectively).
A third letter code tells us if the year is of regular length - months alternating 30 and 29 days for a total of 354 days in the year or 384 with the addition of a 30-day ADAR. Such years are coded KAF for K’SEDER, meaning in order. Or if the year has an extra day, that day being the 30th of Marcheshvan. Such a year is called SHALEIM and is coded SHIN. Or if the year has one day removed, that day being 30 Kislev. Years with only 29 days in Kislev are called CHASEIR, deficient, and are coded CHET.
This year, 5773, is a PEI BET CHET year, meaning 12-months (PEI), started on a Monday (BET), missing 30 Kislev (CHET).
Next year, 5774, will be a MEM HEI SHIN year.