Noach Wasn’t Jewish

Noach Wasn’t Jewish

Nor was Adam

Yet Jews are termed Adam

אתם קרויים אדם

Torah Jews commonly name their boys Noach

Not Adam

Noach is called איש צדיק תמים

Adam isn’t

Bnei Noach who keep Shabbos

Cannot survive

Jews who openly violate Shabbos

Forfeit their identity

Avraham Avinu kept Shabbos

And might have sung about Noach

As we do today

Shabbos sheltered Adam

כי אשמרה שבת

Not Noach

We’re זרע אברהם

Not זרע נח

Or זרע אדם

Shabbos is our wife

זכה עזר

לא זכה כנגדו

Hashem Protects Kayin

Hashem Protects Kayin

With an אות

Rashi says etched into his forehead

But doesn’t reveal which letter of Hashem’s Name

The Zohar says it was the letter vav

Also says it was אות הברית

The human condition is curable

רופא חולי עמו ישראל

The eighth brocho of shemoneh esreh

וישם יהוה לקין אות

Find the connection

And live it

אליו ולא למדותיו

Questions For Your Rabbi’s Rabbi

Questions For Your Rabbi’s Rabbi

The Arizal reveals how the dalet minim correspond to יהוה

    Three hadassim – יוד

    Two aravos – הה

    One lulav – וו

    One esrog – הה

    1 – The entire mitzva is called lulav. So, why do the hadassim and aravos precede the lulav?

    2 – Why are the singular lulav and esrog both represented by double letters?

Questions For Your Rabbi

Questions For Your Rabbi

1-Why don’t diaspora Jews sleep in their sukkas?

2-Why do women take the lulav but not shake it?

3-Why does the Rambam give “Mitzvas Lulav” that name?

4-Why tie the lulav with palm parts and not hadas or aravos?

5-Why is there a mitzva to place the schach but not to construct the walls?

6-Why isn’t the esrog tied with the other three?

7-Why does the esrog cost the most?

8-Why is it forbidden to smell the hadassim but not the esrog?

9-Why is there no issur of hesech hadaas while holding the lulav?

10-Why will the goyim be tested with sukka and not lulav?

11-Why is there only one mitzva performed while sleeping?

A Guten Moed

Chag HaSukkos Needs To Compute

Chag HaSukkos Needs To Compute

Chag HaShavuos is built on a successful seven week avoda

Seven shavuos per person

Shavuos plurality

Chag HaMatzos requires three matzos under each seder plate

And commendable matza consumption all seven days

Matzos plurality

Chazal suggest all Jews dwell in a singular sukka of unity

שכל ישראל ראויים לשבת בסוכה אחת

And the festival is called Chag HaSukkos

Plurality of mystery

The Shofar Rests On Shabbos

The Shofar Rests On Shabbos

Even on Rosh Hashana

History has shown catastrophic results

Of our shofar’s Shabbos rest

Like October 7th

Tefillin rest on Shabbos

Megilas Esther and Lulav too

Without apocalyptic effect

What’s the difference?

And how can our Shabbos Rosh Hashana

Be harnessed to compensate

And surpass what our shofar could have done?

See you on Monday night be”H

9pm EST

Shabbos Shalom

The Mitzva Of Rosh Hashana

The Mitzva Of Rosh Hashana

לשמוע קול שופר

Is different than the minhag of Elul’s shofar

Chazal ordained blowing the shofar

Not hearing it

Like after Yom Kippur

1-Why don’t we make a brocho

Like other תקנות חז״ל?

2-The ordinance is for Rosh Chodesh only

Why do we continue blowing the entire month?

3-Women are exempt from Rosh Hashana’s shofar

They come to hear anyway

Why do they ignore Elul’s shofar?

The Three רגלים

The Three רגלים

Are also three of the four מועדים

What’s the fourth מועד?

It’s hinted at toward the end of parshas Ekev

The Arizal aligns these four

With the four זכירות

We’re obligated to verbalize daily

מעמד הר סיני

מעשה עמלק

מעשה מרים

יציאת מצרים

The Baal Shem Tov says

The neshama of your Shabbos meal

Is the Torah shared at the table

Which זכירה corresponds to which מועד?

Ask the knights of your four legged Shabbos table

באי כלה באי כלה

Shabbos Mevorchim Elul Shalom

Kosher Food Must Be Tahor?

Kosher Food Must Be Tahor?

Nope

Then why in parshas Re’eh

Are only the kosher birds

Described as tahor

A four word posuk

כל צפור טהרה תאכלו

The animals and the fish

Aren’t called tahor here

The Arizal touches on this issue

Try to decipher the attached

Chicken-scratch

When Will I Be Like Our Heroes?

When Will I Be Like Our Heroes?

A question we Jews must constantly ask ourselves

Holy Days are designed to accomplish just that:

Pesach/Tisha Bav – Avraham Avinu

Shavuos/Purim – Yaakov Avinu

Rosh Hashana – Yiitzchok’s Avinu

Yom Kippur – Moshe Rabenu

Sukkos/Chanuka – Aharon HaKohen

Rosh Chodesh – Rochel’s Imenu

The two Tus aren’t associated with heroes

But Yosef remains unaccounted for

And what about Shabbos?